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AMERICAN  ENGLISH 


\h 


THE 
AMERICAN      LANGUAGE 

A  Preliminary  Inquiry  into  the  Develop- 
ment   of    English    in    the    United   States 

BY     H.     L.     MENCKEN 

A  nenv  edition,  revised  and  ivith  much 
additional  material  in  preparation  for  is- 
sue in  the  fall  of  IQ2I. 

"A  fascinating  book;  a  labor  of  love  and 
hence  a  joy  to  read." —  The  Boston  Tran- 
script. 

"  It  is  a  book  to  be  taken  seriously;  it  is  a 
book  well  planned,  well  documented,  and 
well  written." —  The  Nezv   York   Times. 


AMERICAN  ENGLISH 


By  gilbert  M.  TUCKER 


NEW  YORK        ALFRED  •  A  •  KNOPF        mcmxxi 


COPYRIGHT,  1921,  BY 
ALFRED  A.  KNOPF,  Inc. 


PRINTED    IN    THE    UNITEP    STATES    OF    AMERICA 


^  FOREWORD 

The  following  pages  are  the  development  of  a  chap- 
ter on  the  same  subject  in  the  author's  earlier  book, 
"Our  Common  Speech,"  published  in  1895  and  long 
|.      out  of  print,  that  chapter  being  itself  the  development 
^      of  a  paper  read  before  the  Albany  Institute  in  1882, 
'^  printed  in  the  Tenth  Volume  of  the  Transactions  of 
that  body,  and  also  printed,  in  somewhat  different 
form,  in  the  North  American  Review  for  January, 
1883.     Several  sentences   relating  to  the  early  bib- 
liography of  the  subject,  included  in  the  Albany  Insti- 
"^N    tute  paper  and  repeated  in  "Our  Common  Speech," 
^    appear  with  some  alterations  in  the  preface  of  the 
Sylva  Clapin  "Dictionary  of  Americanisms";  and  as 
\    they  appear  again  in  the  book  now  in  the  reader's 
^    hand,  it  seems  advisable  to  state  the  facts,  lest  pos- 
^    sibly  the  present  writer  might  be  suspected  of  pla- 
~~^     giarizing  from  Mr.  Clapin. 


211726 


CONTENTS 

Foreword  5 

CHAPTER  ONE 
Is  Our  English  Degenerating?  11 

CHAPTER  TWO 

Ten  Important  Treatises  49 

CHAPTER  THREE 

Exotic  Americanisms  70 

CHAPTER  FOUR 

Some  Real  Americanisms  224 

CHAPTER  FIVE 

Misunderstood  and  Imaginary  Americanisms  315 

CHAPTER  SIX 

The  Bibliography  of  the  Subject  332 

Index  of  Words  and  Phrases  347 


AMERICAN  ENGLISH 


CHAPTER  ONE 
IS  OUR  ENGLISH  DEGENERATING? 

"When  the  American  Ambassador  tells  us,  in  some  degree  at 
least  seriously,  that  better  English  is  spoken  in  America  than  in 
England,  it  is  really  a  little  too  much.  .  .  .  The  Americans  .  .  . 
are  rich.  They  are,  or  seem  to  be,  confident  of  themselves. 
They  excel  at  the  business  of  games.  They  make  things 
'hum.'  But  it  is  absurd  to  pretend  they  speak  good  English. 
Their  English,  and  their  spelling  of  English,  which  we  are 
sorry  to  say  is  imitated  by  English  writers  who  should  know 
better,  are  most  unpleasant.  Their  twang  is  sometimes  so." — 
Saturday  Review,  Dec.  13,  1913. 

The  above  quotation  from  an  editorial  in  an  im- 
portant London  journal  epitomizes,  in  a  form  very 
convenient  for  consideration,  the  view  that  seems  to 
be  rather  generally  held  in  Great  Britain  of  the  differ- 
ences existing,  or  supposed  to  exist,  between  the  lan- 
guage of  that  country  and  the  language  of  the  United 
States.  "We  are  continually  girding  at  the  Ameri- 
cans, and  criticizing  in  a  more  or  less  disparaging 
manner  their  speech,"  wrote  the  late  George  Augustus 
Sala  in  the  Illustrated  London  News.  The  "girding" 
has  been  indulged  in  at  not  very  protracted  intervals, 
for  a  long,  long  time,  and  by  all  sorts  and  conditions 
of  British  writers.     A  well  known  essayist  on  matters 

II 


12  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

verbal,  Dean  Alford,  devoted  some  pages,  in  his  trea- 
tise on  what  he  rather  absurdly  called  "The  Queen's 
English"  (as  if  terms  like  "the  king's  English"  or 
"the  king's  highway"  or  "the  king's  evil"  needed  cor- 
rection in  gender  when  the  sovereign  happens  to  be  a 
woman!)  to  "the  process  of  deterioration  which  our 
queen's  English  has  undergone  at  the  hands  of  the 
Americans."  A  writer  of  a  very  different  type,  John 
Ruskin,  admonished  the  workmen  of  Great  Britain 
(Fors  Clavigera,  No.  42)  to  remember  that  "England 
taught  the  Americans  all  they  have  of  speech,"  the 
words  they  have  not  learned  from  England  being 
"unseemly  words,  the  vile  among  them  not  being  able 
to  be  humorous  parrots,  but  only  obscene  mocking 
birds."  Speaking  of  a  book  by  Mark  Twain,  the 
Westminster  Review  remarked  that  "English  as  writ- 
ten, and  still  more  as  spoken,  by  Americans,  is  an- 
other thing  from  native  English,"  adding  that  in  Mr. 
Clemens'  writings  "there  are  scarcely  half  a  dozen 
consecutive  lines  of  what  we  should  call  pure  Eng- 
lish," and  further  that  "the  modifications  which  differ- 
entiate 'American'  from  English  are  for  the  most  part 
vulgarisms."  A  book  called  "The  Abounding  Amer- 
ican," by  T.  W.  H.  Crosland,  published  in  London  in 
1907,  informs  us  (page  14)  that  the  Americans,  "hav- 
ing inherited,  borrowed  or  stolen  a  beautiful  language, 
willfully  and  of  set  purpose  degrade,  distort  and  mis- 
spell it."  Any  number  of  similar  expressions  from 
British  writers  might  be  given,  and  some  expatriated 


IS     OUR     ENGLISH     DEGENERATING*?        I3 

Americans  delight  in  echoing  them.  Such  an  Amer- 
ican was  Dr.  Fitzedward  Hall,  a  recognized  authority 
in  philology,  who  informed  the  readers  of  the  Nine- 
teenth Century  that  William  Cullen  Bryant  lived 
"among  a  people  among  whom  our  language  is  daily 
becoming  more  and  more  depraved,"  and  that  who- 
ever will  compare  "Edgar  Huntly,"  a  novel  published 
in  1799,  with  Mr.  Bryant's  letters,  "the  English  of 
which  is  not  much  worse  than  that  of  ninety-nine  out 
of  every  hundred  of  his  college-bred  compatriots,  will 
very  soon  become  aware  to  what  degree  the  art  of 
writing  our  language  has  declined  among  educated" 
people  in  the  United  States. 

Now  of  course  there  is  great  temptation  to  make 
sharp  retorts  to  statements  like  the  foregoing,  espe- 
cially as  our  critics  generally  reveal  rather  plainly 
very  vulnerable  joints  in  their  armor.  Dean  Alford, 
for  instance,  displayed,  on  the  same  page  on  which 
he  spoke  of  the  language  as  having  deteriorated  in 
our  hands,  a  certain  lack  of  familiarity  with  matters 
in  this  country,  in  his  reference  to  the  Northern  States 
as  having  been  engaged  in  1864  in  "reckless  and  fruit- 
less maintenance  of  the  most  cruel  and  unprincipled 
war  in  the  history  of  the  world";  and  what  is  more 
to  the  present  point,  he  fell  continually  into  verbal 
errors  himself.  Ruskin  was  guilty  of  such  expres- 
sions as  these,  all  in  Fors  Clavigera  too:  "A  daisy 
is  common,  and  a  baby  not  uncommon;  neither  are 
vulgar"  (No.  25,  note) ;  "None  of  these  minor  errors 


14  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

are  of  the  least  consequence"  (No.  43);  "Any  one 
may  be  a  Companion  of  St.  George  who  sincerely  does 
what  they  can  to  make  themselves  useful  and  earn 
their  daily  bread"  (No.  67).  Mr.  Crosland  says 
(page  105)  that  "the  Chicago  method  of  treating 
meats  are  unhealthy,"  which  may  possibly  be  a  typo- 
graphical error;  but  he  doubtless  wrote  as  printed  the 
sentence  on  page  111,  "I  have  never  been  to  the  United 
States."  The  qualifications  for  passing  judgment 
on  the  language  of  a  country  possessed  by  a  writer  who 
could  speak  of  being  "to"  it,  and  who  confesses  that 
he  has  never  been  what  in  good  English  is  called  being 
"in"  it,  need  hardly  be  discussed.  (I  regret  to  note 
the  same  blunder  in  a  book  by  a  writer  of  widely 
different  calibre,  Sir  Arthur  Conan  Doyle — "The  Vi- 
tal Message,"  page  158 — and  what  is  unaccountable, 
Sir  Arthur  insists,  in  a  courteous  private  letter  to  the 
present  writer,  that  it  is  correct  to  say  "I  have  been  to 
Crewe.") 

As  for  "Edgar  Huntly,"  so  greatly  admired  by  Dr. 
Hall  for  its  fine  diction,  the  style  of  that  almost  for- 
gotten book  is  regarded  by  the  historian  Prescott  (who 
reviewed  it,  sympathetically  and  on  the  whole  admir- 
ingly, in  one  of  his  miscellaneous  essays)  as  char- 
acterized by  "unnatural  condensation,  unusual  and 
pedantic  epithets  and  elliptical  forms  of  expression, 
in  perpetual  violation  of  idiom" — an  opinion  in  which 
I  think  every  reader  of  the  novel  will  concur.  The 
second  sentence  runs  thus:     "At  length  does  the  im- 


IS     OUR     ENGLISH      DEGENERATING^        15 

petuosity  of  my  fears,  the  transports  of  my  wonder, 
permit  me  to  recollect";  the  transports  does.  In  the 
second  chapter:  "Those  with  whom  he  lived  and 
were  the  witnesses  of  his  actions";  no  subject  for  the 
verb  were.  "A  suspicion  suggested  itself  whether  my 
guide  did  not  perceive  that  he  was  followed,  and  thus 
prolonged  (meaning  prolong)  his  journey  in  order  to 
fatigue  his  pursuer."  Chapter  Four:  "My  leisure 
was  considerable,  and  my  emoluments  large";  emolu- 
ments was  large.  Chap.  Five:  "There  is  no  event 
on  which  our  felicity  and  usefulness  more  materially 
depends":  two  things  depends.  "The  choice  was  not 
likely  to  obtain  the  parental  sanction,  to  whom  the 
moral  qualities  of  their  son-in-law  were  inferior  to 
the  considerations  of  wealth";  no  antecedent  to  the 
pronoun  whom.  "The  ties  of  kindred,  corroborated 
by  habit,  was  not  the  only  thing  that  united  them"; 
the  ties  was  not.  Chap.  Seven:  "I  charged  him  to 
have  a  watchful  eye  upon  every  one  that  knocked  at 
the  gate,  and  that,  if  this  person  should  come,  by  no 
means  to  admit  him."  If  anybody  can  find  English 
like  that  in  anything  that  Mr.  Bryant  ever  wrote,  I 
should  like  to  have  him  point  it  out ;  and  it  has  seemed 
worth  while,  considering  Dr.  Hall's  undoubted  emi- 
nence in  philology,  which  gives  importance  to  any 
deliverance  of  his  on  any  topic  relating  to  language, 
to  show  the  value  of  his  judgment  on  questions  of 
grammar  and  style  (philology  not  being  involved), 
as  illustrating  the  importance  that  should  be  attached 


l6  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

to  his  opinion  that  the  language  is  "daily  becoming 
more  and  more  depraved"  in  the  United  States. 

The  Saturday  Review  says  it  is  absurd  to  pretend 
that  we  Americans  speak  good  English,  implying  of 
course  that  good  English  is  the  English  of  Great  Brit- 
ain. If  any  fair  comparison  is  drawn,  it  must  be 
either  between  the  speech  of  people  of  the  same  class 
in  the  two  countries,  or  else  between  fair  averages, 
as  nearly  as  they  can  be  had,  of  all  the  people  of  the 
two  countries.  If  the  talk  of  street  loafers  in  Amer- 
ican cities,  and  the  verbal  peculiarities  that  one  may 
find  in  outlying  regions  of  Texas,  are  to  be  counted 
as  characteristic  of  American  speech,  we  must  also 
take  just  as  careful  account,  in  striking  the  balance, 
of  the  lingo  of  the  slums  of  London  and  Edinburgh 
and  Cork,  and  of  the  jargon  of  the  most  unprogressive 
counties  of  the  three  kingdoms.  To  compare  the  con- 
versation of  a  London  drawing-room  with  the  talk 
that  you  might  hear  in  a  road-house  in  Arkansas  is 
manifestly  unprofitable;  nothing  can  be  learned  by 
such  methods,  though  it  is  to  be  feared  that  some  of 
our  critics  have  not  invariably  been  quite  as  careful 
as  they  might  be  to  avoid  them. 

Good  English,  the  kind  that  the  Saturday  Review 
approves  and  that  it  is  said  we  Americans  do  not 
speak,  ought  surely  to  be  heard,  if  anywhere,  in  the 
higher  strata  of  London  society.  What  sort  of  Eng- 
lish, then,  is  it  that  one  hears  there?  A  number  of 
specimens,  given  by  an  English  lady  who  is  vouched 


IS     OUR     ENGLISH     DEGENERATING'?        I7 

for  as  thoroughly  au  courant  of  the  speech  of  the  kind 
of  people  she  portrays — a  London  nobleman  and  his 
wife — ^may  be  found  in  the  bright  story  called  "The 
Marriage  Contract,"  by  Alicia  Ramsey,  published  in 
1913.  The  husband  is  represented  as  persistently 
slurring  the  terminations  of  present  participles,  after 
a  fashion  confined  in  this  country  to  the  very  illiterate ; 
he  says  rippin',  beginnin',  listenin',  worryin',  and 
so  on  ad  nauseam,  even  anything  which  I  think  is  one 
word  of  the  class  which  you  will  hardly  hear  thus 
mangled  by  any  American,  however  illiterate.  His 
regard  for  grammar  is  shown  by  his  speaking  of  doing 
something  "like  those  millionaires  did."  He  talks 
about  a  "piffling"  law;  characterizes  an  approaching 
wedding  as  "a  beast  of  a  nuisance,"  offers  to  sign 
"the  bally  thing,"  asks  his  wife  at  table,  not  to  pass 
the  jam,  but  to  "shove  it  along,"  and  to  "chuck"  him 
another  match;  and  tells  her  that  something  "bucks 
you  up."  Nor  is  the  bride  less  elegant.  She  de- 
clares that  "marriage  is  rotten,"  and  something  else 
is  "beastly,"  refers  to  "old  uns  like  Aunt  Jane,"  calls 
a  famous  English  sovereign  "Billy  the  Conq,"  tells 
her  aunt  to  "buck  up,"  says  "it  was  me,"  and  "ex- 
pects" it's  somebody  come  to  tea.  It  will  hardly  be 
maintained  by  any  well-informed  person,  I  think,  that 
this  picture,  taken  from  an  ephemeral  story  as  it  is, 
is  so  overdrawn  as  to  make  it  grossly  misrepresent 
the  conversation  of  many  of  the  class  of  people  from 
whom  it  is  to  be  supposed  that  the  Saturday  Reviewer 


l8  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

would  have  us  poor  Americans  try  to  learn  to  talk 
as  we  ought  to  talk.  In  any  case,  nothing  in  the  tale 
is  worse  English  than  that  used  by  Sir  Francis 
Knollys,  private  secretary  to  King  Edward  VII,  who 
wrote  to  Prof.  Rawson  of  the  Thirteen  Club  of  New 
York,  Feb.  27,  1896,  speaking  of  the  king:  "The 
number  of  invitations  which  he  receives  from  different 
parts  of  the  world  to  belong  to  various  clubs  are  ex- 
tremely numerous";  the  number  are  numerous! 
Really  now,  how  often  do  you  hear  anything  as  bad 
as  that,  among  people  of  any  sort  of  education  in  the 
United  States? 

But  perhaps  it  is  in  British  literature,  modern  Brit- 
ish literature,  rather  than  in  the  talk  of  fashionable 
British  people,  that  we  are  to  find  the  well  of  Eng- 
lish undefiled  from  which  it  would  become  us  Amer- 
icans to  quaff  and  of  which  we  should  endeavor  to 
assimilate  the  flavor?  Well,  no  very  elaborate  analy- 
sis is  necessary  to  inspire  caution  in  so  doing;  a  few 
sips  will  answer,  Charles  Reade,  whom  Dr.  Fitz- 
edward  Hall  ranked  among  "the  choicest  of  (then) 
living  English  wTiters,"  is  guilty  of  such  phrases  as 
"there  will  be  only  us  two  at  dinner"  ("Love  me  Lit- 
tle," Chap.  1).  Our  kind  friend  Dean  Alford  is  au- 
thority for  the  statement  that  "our  best  writers  (mean- 
ing the  best  British  writers)  have  the  popular  expres- 
sion these  kind,  those  sort,"  where  this  kind  or  that 
sort  is  intended;  and  it  is  entertaining  to  read  in 
Blackwood's    Magazine,    No.    799,    the    following: 


IS      OUR     ENGLISH      DEGENERATING'?        I9 

"There  are  some  happy  writers  whose  mission  it  is  to 
expound  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  great.  .  .  . 
And  yet,  alas!  to  these  writers  when  they  have  done 
all,  yet  must  we  add  that  they  fail  to  satisfy  their  mod- 
els. .  .  .  'As  if  these  sort  of  people  knew  anything 
about  society! '  Lady  Adeliza  says."  The  queer  blun- 
der seems  to  persist  in  England,  for  in  a  novel  so 
recent  as  "Katherine  Bush,"  by  Elinor  Glyn,  we  find 
one  of  the  characters  asking  whether  her  employer  has 
"any  particular  paper  for  these  sort  of  things"  (Cos- 
mopolitan, March,  1916,  page  485)  and  another  re- 
marking that  ''those  kind  of  natures  always  win"  (ib., 
July,  1916,  page  176).  Dean  Alford  is  also  author- 
ity for  the  statement  that  Eton  graduates  are  especially 
prone  to  confuse  the  verbs  lie  and  lay,  an  error  very 
rare  in  respectable  American  society  and  one  that  has 
grieved  me  much  in  a  great  English  story-teller,  An- 
thony TroUope,  as  for  instance  in  the  7th  chapter  of 
"The  Warden":  'T  have  done  more  than  sleep  upon 
it;  I  have  laid  awake  upon  it."  It  occurs  also  in  an 
extraordinary  place  for  a  granmiatical  error,  "Stor- 
month's  English  Word-Book,"  where  laid  is  actually 
given  as  the  participle  of  lie!  After  noting  this,  one 
need  hardly  be  surprised  to  find  the  same  writer  (in 
the  supplement  to  his  excellent  dictionary)  defining 
Alhorak  as  the  name  of  "the  white  mule  on  which 
Mohammed  is  said  to  have  rode  from  Jerusalem  to 
heaven."  If  an  American  lexicographer  were  caught 
using  laid  for  lain  or  rode  for  ridden,  what  a  text  it 


20  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

would  furnish  for  a  dissertation  on  the  process  of  de- 
praving our  mother  tongue  which  is  advancing  with 
such  alarming  rapidity  in  the  United  States!  Re- 
verting to  Trollope,  it  may  be  worth  while  to  mention 
that  in  a  single  book,  "The  Prime  Minister,"  he  not 
only  writes:  "The  duke  had  been  up  to  London," 
chap.  32,  and  "There  are  others  just  as  bad  as  me," 
chap.  51 ;  but  three  times  uses  eat  for  ate:  "That  he 
should  be  thwarted  by  her  eat  into  his  very  heart," 
chap.  32;  "In  the  evening  he  eat  a  mutton  chop," 
chap.  52;  "He  drank  his  tea  and  eat  his  toast,"  chap. 
60.  Or  look  over  the  last  literary  production  of  an 
ex-prime-minister  of  Great  Britain,  "Endymion,"  and 
you  find  this  sort  of  thing,  among  other  phrases  of 
similar  correctness  and  beauty:  "Everybody  says 
what  they  like,"  chap.  20;  "I  would  never  leave  him 
for  a  moment  only  I  know  he  would  get  wearied  of 
me,"  chap.  39;  "I  have  never  been  back  to  the  old 
place,"  chap.  63;  "Everybody  can  do  exactly  what 
they  like,"  chap.  98.  George  Meredith  wrote  in 
"Harry  Richmond,"  chap.  5,  "you  are  younger  than 
me,"  and  in  Chap.  6,  "a  girl  about  a  year  older  than 
me."  Locke,  in  "Jaffery,"  published  so  recently  as 
1914,  "for  such  as  him"  (chap.  3);  "I  have  never 
been  to  Albania"  (chap.  5);  "that's  a  place  I  have 
never  been  to"  (chap.  19);  Galsworthy  in  "Beyond," 
published  1917,  makes  the  heroine  ask,  "Who  in  our 
world  would  marry  me  if  they  knew?"  Or  take  down 
a  more  serious  work  presumably  written  at  leisure  and 


IS     OUR     ENGLISH     DEGENERATING^       21 

with  care,  "Freeman's  Historical  Essays,"  and  you 
will  find,  in  the  Third  Series,  gems  like  these:  "One 
whom  the  mockers  of  the  age  said  was  no  fitting 
guest";  "It  may  be  argued  that  he  either  could  not  nor 
would  not  hold  Athens";  "The  valiant  peasantry  of 
old  Hellas  was  of  another  mould  from  the  nobles"; 
"Their  relation  to  the  empire  was  wholly  different  to 
that  of  the  slaves."  Or  to  go  farther  back,  we  find 
in  a  book  long  regarded  as  the  highest  authority  on. 
purposeful  speech,  "Blair's  Rhetoric,"  this:  "Few 
authors  are  more  clear  than  Archbishop  Tillotson  and 
Sir  William  Temple;  yet  neither  of  them  are  remark- 
able for  precision."  And  what  is  more,  you  will  find 
in  great  English  books  not  infrequent  instances  of 
highly  incorrect  constructions  that  are  notoriously 
British  and  of  which  it  is  almost  safe  to  say  that  no 
American  is  ever  guilty.  Such  a  construction  is  per- 
haps Freeman's  "different  to."  Such  certainly  is 
Spencer's  "immediately  this  is  recognized"  ("Sociol- 
ogy," chap.  2)  and  Arnold  Bennett's  "immediately  I 
left  the  station"  ("Your  United  States,"  chap.  3) — 
meaning  in  each  case  as  soon  as — a  construction  that 
Murray's  Dictionary  palliates  as  "elliptical  for  im- 
mediately that,"  which  explanation  seems  to  me  to  be 
one  of  the  very  few  slips  in  that  wonderful  work,  con- 
sidering that  if  immediately  is  to  be  used  in  that  fash- 
ion at  all,  the  word  to  supply  is  not  that,  but  after. 
Such  a  construction  also  is  Anthony  Hope's,  "the 
house  comes  into  view  directly  the  drive  is  entered" 


22  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

("The  Great  Miss  Driver,"  chap.  2),  which  occurs 
likewise  in  Buckle,  "I  put  them  away  directly  they 
came"  (letter  to  Mrs.  Grey,  Huth's  "Life,"  chap.  2), 
though  Buckle  was  anything  but  a  careless  writer, 
having  devoted  great  labor  for  a  long  time  to  the  ac- 
quisition of  a  correct  and  polished  style  of  composi- 
tion. Even  worse,  as  ignoring  one  of  the  elementary 
principles  of  English  grammar,  is  the  frequent  occur- 
rence in  British  books  and  high-class  periodicals  of 
such  terms  as  "parcels  post,"  "inventions  exhibition," 
"rivers  pollution  commission,"  and  the  like.  Nobody 
speaks  of  a  hats  rack  or  a  books  case  or  a  cloaks  room, 
and  everybody  ought  to  know  that  a  noun  used  to 
qualify  another  noun  becomes  for  the  time  an  adjective 
and  is  therefore  absolutely  indeclinable;  but  while 
this  is  perfectly  recognized  in  England  in  the  case  of 
every  old  combination,  it  is  constantly  overlooked  in 
making  new  ones,  and  overlooked  in  the  most  formal 
official  documents  even  more  than  in  the  careless  lan- 
guage of  the  streets. 

If  anybody  might  be  expected  to  avoid  solecisms, 
surely  it  is  a  gentleman  holding  the  position  of  Lec- 
turer for  the  Oxford  University  Extension  Delegacy. 
Yet  such  a  gentleman.  Prof.  John  Cowper  Powys,  falls 
into  the  following  errors  in  a  single  book,  "Visions 
and  Revisions":  "Are  we  not  those  who  are  neither 
for  God  or  for  his  enemies?",  Dante,  45;  "Words- 
worth is  neither  a  Christian  or  a  pagan,"  Lamb,  110; 
"Neither  realist  or  psychologist,"  Dickens,  125;   "It 


IS      OUR      ENGLISH      DEGENERATING'?       23 

may  be  neither  very  useful  or  very  moral,"  Shake- 
speare, 159;  "If  a  person  is  hurt  by  them,  that  is  only 
an  indication  that  they  are  in  grievous  need,"  Rabe- 
lais, 31 ;  "Neither  of  them  know  what  lies  on  the  other 
side  of  the  moon,"  Dante,  43;  "Not  one  of  them  but 
have  murderous  feet,"  Dickens,  124;  and  the  pecu- 
liarly awkward  phrase,  "He  is  the  most  widely  known 
of  any  stylist,"  Lamb,  105. 

However,  the  Tu  Quoque  argument  is  unconvincing 
and  unsatisfactory  at  best;  and  it  is  admittedly  im- 
practicable to  institute  any  very  instructive  compari- 
son between  either  the  fashionable  or  the  literary  lan- 
guage of  the  two  countries.  It  is  not  quite  so  diffi- 
cult to  compare  what  after  all  counts  for  most,  and 
what  was  probably  in  the  Saturday  Reviewer's  mind, 
the  average  speech  of  our  British  cousins  and  of  our 
own  people.  Is  the  former  superior  to  the  latter?  I 
have  the  authority  of  the  American  ambassador  re- 
ferred to,  Mr.  Page,  for  saying  that  his  only  allusion 
to  the  matter  was  in  a  single  sentence  which  he  meant 
as  a  pleasantry  and  which  was  so  understood  by  his 
hearers.  But  there  is  a  proverb  about  true  words 
spoken  in  jest;  and  I  believe  it  will  be  found,  on 
weighing  the  evidence,  not  only  that  the  well  known 
dramatic  critic,  Mr.  William  Archer,  is  right  in  de- 
claring ("America  To-day,"  page  253)  that  "the  idea 
that  the  English  language  is  degenerating  in  America 
is  an  absolutely  groundless  illusion,"  but  also  that 
the  ambassador  was  quite  justified  in  making,  if  he 


24  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

did  make  it,  the  statement  that  so  stirred  the  ire  of  the 
Saturday  Reviewer,  that  statement  being  after  all  only 
an  almost  word-for-word  repetition  of  what  Sir  George 
Campbell  had  written  (in  his  book  of  travel  called 
''White  and  Black")  that  "of  the  body  of  the  Ameri- 
can people  it  may  be  said  that  their  language  is  Eng- 
lish a  little  better  than  that  used  in  any  county  of 
England."  It  is  of  course  impossible  to  establish  any 
standard  of  ideal  correctness  by  which  the  two  varie- 
ties of  speech  might  be  judged  to  see  w^hich  of  them 
falls  the  more  seriously  below  it ;  but  comparisons  be- 
tween the  two,  on  points  about  which  there  can  hardly 
be  difference  of  opinion,  may  nevertheless  be  insti- 
tuted, and  should  furnish  some  grounds  for  a  general 
verdict  in  favor  of  one  or  the  other. 

In  the  first  place,  it  will  hardly  be  denied  in  any 
quarter  that  the  speech  of  the  United  States  is  quite 
unlike  that  of  Great  Britain  in  the  important  particu- 
lar that  we  have  no  dialects.  "I  never  found  any 
difficulty  in  understanding  an  American  speaker," 
writes  the  historian  Freeman;  "but  I  have  often  found 
it  difficult  to  understand  a  Northern-English  speaker," 
"From  Portland,  Me.,  to  Portland,  Oregon,"  says  a 
writer  in  the  Westminster  Review,  "no  trace  of  a  dis- 
tinct dialect  is  to  be  found.  The  man  from  Maine, 
even  though  he  may  be  of  inferior  education  and  lim- 
ited capacity,  can  completely  understand  the  man  of 
Oregon.  There  is  no  peasant  with  a  patois;  there  is 
no  rough  Northumbrian  burr;  in  point  of  fact,  there 


IS     OUR     ENGLISH     DEGENERATING?       2^ 

is  no  brogue."  Trifling  variations  in  pronunciation, 
and  in  the  use  of  a  few  particular  words,  certainly 
exist.  The  Yankee  "expects"  or  "calculates,"  while 
the  Virginian  "reckons"^;  the  illiterate  Northerner 
"claims,"  ^  and  the  Southerner  of  similar  class,  by  a 
very  curious  reversal  of  the  blunder,  "allows,"  what 
better  educated  people  merely  assert.  The  pails  and 
pans  of  the  world  at  large  become  "buckets"  when 
taken  to  Kentucky.  It  is  "evening"  in  Richmond 
while  afternoon  still  lingers  a  hundred  miles  due  north 
at  Washington.  Vessds  go  into  "docks"  on  their 
arrival  at  Philadelphia,  but  into  "slips"  at  Mobile; 
they  are  tied  up  to  "wharves"  at  some  ports,  but  to 
"piers,"  of  exactly  the  same  construction,  at  others. 
Distances  from  place  to  place  are  measured  by 
"squares"  in  Baltimore,  by  "blocks"  in  Chicago.  The 
"shilling"  of  old  New  York  is  the  "levy"  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, the  "bit"  of  San  Francisco,  the  "ninepence"  of 
old  New  England,  and  the  "escalan"  of  New  Orleans. 
But  put  all  these  variations  together,  with  such  others 
as  more  microscopic  examination  might  reveal,  and 

1  No  American  ever  uses  this  word  with  an  infinitive,  as  occurs 
twice  in  Mr.  Arnold  Bennett's  delightful  and  really  brilliant  book, 
"Your  United  States."  He  writes  (p.  16),  "I  reckon  to  do  a  bit  in 
that  line,"  and  (p.  126),  "We  reckon  to  be  connoisseurs."  The  verb, 
it  will  be  noticed,  appears  to  have  quite  different  significations  in  these 
two  sentences,  meaning  (I  suppose)  expect  in  the  first  and  claim  in 
the  second. 

2  And  sometimes,  alas !  the  Northerner  who  is  not  illiterate.  Prof. 
Whitney,  editor  of  the  great  Century  Dictionary,  is  more  than  once 
guilty  of  this  barbarism  in  his  "Elements  of  English  Pronunciation"; 
and  so  is  Prof.  L.  T.  Townsend  of  the  Boston  University,  in  his  work 
on  the  "Art  of  Speech." 


26  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

how  far  short  they  fall  of  representing  anything  like 
the  real  dialectic  differences  of  speech  that  obtain,  and 
always  have  obtained,  not  only  as  between  any  two  of 
the  three  kingdoms,  but  even  between  contiguous  sec- 
tions of  England  itself!  What  two  regions  can  be 
found  within  our  borders,  however  sequestered  and 
unenlightened,  and  however  widely  separated  by  geo- 
graphical position,  of  which  the  speech  of  the  one 
presents  any  difficulty  worth  mentioning,  or  even  any 
very  startling  unfamiliarity  in  sound  or  construction, 
to  the  inhabitant  of  the  other?  Our  omnipresent 
railroads,  telegraph  lines,  mail  routes  and  printing 
presses,  and  the  well-marked  disposition  of  every  class 
of  our  people  to  make  lavish  use  of  these  means  of 
intercommunication,  both  for  the  rapid  diffusion  of 
intelligence  and  the  interchange  of  opinion,  and  also, 
so  far  as  lines  of  travel  are  concerned,  for  the  fre- 
quent transportation  of  the  people  themselves  hither 
and  thither,  with  a  degree  of  ease  and  celerity  to  which 
no  other  country  has  ever  attained — these  causes  have 
always  favored,  and  seem  likely  permanently  to  pre- 
serve, a  certain  community  of  expression  as  well  as 
of  thought,  that  not  only  is  practically  prohibitive  of 
the  formation  of  new  dialects,  but  also  rapidly  effaces 
the  prominent  lineaments  of  such  variations  as  have 
at  different  times  been  imported  from  the  old  world. 
Compare  this  homogeneity  of  speech  with  the  con- 
ditions that  obtain  in  Great  Britain.  "Even  now," 
writes  the  Dean  of  Ely  in  the  Outlook,  "a  west-coun- 


IS     OUR      ENGLISH      DEGENERATING?        27 

try  peasant  cannot  understand  the  tongue  of  York- 
shire— as  I  know  well,  for  I  was  a  country  parson  in 
Devonshire  for  four  years — and  speaks  of  him  too, 
occasionally,  as  a  'farriner.'  "  Yorkshire  and  Devon- 
shire are  separated  by  what  seems  to  Americans  the 
trifling  distance  of  about  180  miles,  nearer  each  other 
than  are  Pennsylvania  and  Indiana;  and  the  speech 
of  the  two  counties  is  mutually  unintelligible.  Think 
of  the  jargons  that  you  hear  in  other  districts  also, 
districts  in  which  only  English  is  supposed  to  be 
spoken — the  varied  patois  of  Scotland,  of  Wales,  of 
many  parts  of  Ireland,  of  considerable  regions  in  Eng- 
land itself.  I  shall  never  forget — and  many  readers 
must  have  had  similar  experience  if,  like  myself,  they 
enjoy  talking  with  all  sorts  of  people,  and  especially 
with  specimens  of  sorts  that  are  new  to  them — I  shall 
never  forget  trying  one  day,  on  a  steamer,  to  converse 
with  an  English  workingman,  English  born  and  bred, 
and  finding  it  just  barely  possible  to  understand  him. 
He  recognized  the  difficulty  himself,  and  apologized, 
saying,  as  near  as  I  can  represent  him:  "Ah  know 
thut  ah  hahv  ah  varra  bahd  ahxunt."  Find  anything 
like  that  in  the  United  States  if  you  can.  And  here 
is  part  of  an  editorial  article  in  the  New  York  Times : 

"Over  here  we  enrage  our  cousins  by  talking  about  their 
'English  accent,'  calmly  ignoring  the  fact  that  their  speech  is 
standard,  and  we  have  the  'accent,'  not  they.  But  one  of  the 
war  correspondents  laments  that  the  English  troops  in  France 
and  Belgium  often  cannot  make  themselves  understood  even 


28  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

to  the  foreigners  who  speak  the  English  of  the  schools,  for 
such  instruction  as  is  there  received  does  not  qualify  the  stu- 
dent for  intelligent  converse  with  soldiers  who  talk  in  'Welsh, 
Scotch,  Yorkshire  or  Whitechapel.'  The  results  are  sometimes 
serious,  especially  when  dealing  with  native  guides,  and  the 
demand  is  for  interpreters  competent  to  translate  the  speech  of 
British  soldiers,  not  into  French  or  German,  but  into  an  Eng- 
lish comprehensible  to  a  Frenchman  or  German  who  speaks — 
English." 

The  very  literature  of  the  subject  tells  the  story. 
There  are  I  don't  know  how  many  glossaries  of  dia- 
lects in  England — no  fewer  than  250  would  be  neces- 
sary to  cover  the  ground,  according  to  the  statement 
of  a  member  of  the  Yorkshire  Dialect  Society;  and 
some  of  them  are  quite  big  books  with  an  appalling 
list  of  terms  unknown  outside  of  a  very  restricted  re- 
gion; find  anything  like  that  condition  of  affairs  in 
the  United  States  if  you  can.  The  fourth  chapter  of 
this  book  gives  an  approximately  complete  list  of  all 
words  and  phrases  really  peculiar  to  this  country,  and 
it  contains  about  1900  entries.  Compare  this  with 
Halliwell's  Dictionary  of  Archaic  and  Provincial 
Words  in  Great  Britain  and  Davies'  Supplement  to 
the  same,  which  explain,  between  them,  perhaps 
sixty  thousand  expressions.  Undoubtedly  the  im- 
mense majority  of  the  entries  in  these  books  are  obso- 
lete terms  and  words  highly  local;  but  that  is  also 
true  of  my  list  of  Americanisms.  Of  the  whole  1900 
I  am  quite  sure  that  I  have  never  in  my  life  heard 
more  than  about  1100  used,  most  of  these  being  vul- 


IS     OUR     ENGLISH     DEGENERATING"       29 

gar  locutions  that  neither  I  nor  anybody  likely  to 
read  this  book  would  ever  think  of  using,  and  I  doubt 
whether  a  fifth  of  the  whole  number  would  strike  any 
American  as  being  really  familiar. 

It  ought  to  be  remembered  also  that  the  ordinary 
speech  of  the  United  States  presents  not  greatly  more 
of  what  may  be  termed  caste  variations  than  of  those 
that  are  attributable  to  differences  of  locality.  A  dis- 
criminating English  traveler,  the  Rev.  F.  Barham 
Zincke,  once  chaplain-in-ordinary  to  Queen  Victoria, 
mentions  as  "a  remarkable  fact  that  the  English 
spoken  in  America  is  not  only  very  pure,  but  also  is 
spoken  with  equal  purity  by  all  classes.  .  .  .  The 
language  in  every  man's  mouth  is  that  of  literature 
and  society;  spoken  at  San  Francisco  just  as  it  is 
spoken  at  New  York  and  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  just 
as  on  the  great  lakes.  It  is  even  the  language  of  the 
negroes  in  the  towns.  There  is  nothing  resembling 
this  in  Europe,  where  every  county,  as  in  England, 
or  every  province  and  canton,  has  a  different  dia- 
lect. .  .  .  Often,  in  parts  of  the  country  most  remote 
from  each  other,  in  wooden  shanties  and  the  poorest 
huts,  I  had  this  interesting  fact  of  the  purity  and 
identity  of  the  language  of  the  Americans  forced  on 
my  attention.  And  at  such  times  I  thought,  not  with- 
out shame  and  sorrow,  of  the  wretched  vocabulary, 
consisting  of  not  more  than  three  or  four  hundred 
words,  and  those  often  ungrammatically  used,  and 
always  more  or  less  mispronounced,  of  our  peasantry." 


30  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

In  other  words,  the  speech  of  even  the  lower  orders 
of  our  American  people,  whether  examined  in  regard 
to  its  vocabulary,  its  construction  or  its  pronunciation, 
is  distinctly  better  English  than  is  generally  spoken 
on  the  other  side  of  the  sea,  taking  the  whole  of  the 
three  kingdoms  together. 

The  Saturday  Review  finds  our  "twang"  sometimes 
unpleasant,  and  no  American  with  any  sort  of  ear  for 
fine  sounds  will  disagree  with  him.  Very  unpleasant 
it  certainly  often  is,  as  one  hears  it  from  many  Ameri- 
can mouths,  especially  in  Europe,  when  contrasted 
with  the  lower-pitched,  softer  voices  of  many  English 
people,  notably  those  of  English  ladies;  and  teachers 
and  parents  of  American  children  will  do  well  to  pay 
more  attention  to  inculcating  better  intonation.  But 
"twang,"  after  all,  is  not  peculiar  to  this  side  of  the 
ocean.  I  am  told  that  the  "jerking  tone  of  voice  popu- 
larly called  the  Parliamentary  twang"  which  Bulwer 
Lytton  noted  (in  "My  Novel,"  Book  10,  Chap.  44) 
is  about  as  observable  now  as  it  was  when  that  book 
appeared.  And  then — a  more  important  point — one 
must  be  careful  not  to  draw  the  comparison  only  with 
the  speech  of  well-bred  English  people.  Have  our 
rural  and  laboring  classes  anything  to  learn  from  the 
management  of  their  voices  by  the  peasantry  of  the 
three  kingdoms  or  the  poorer  classes  of  British  towns? 
Could  you  find  material  in  this  country  for  a  compo- 
sition like  Tennyson's  "Northern  Farmer"?  Who 
ever  heard  an  American,  of  however  humble  social 


IS     OUR     ENGLISH     DEGENERATING*?       3I 

position,  so  speak  that  it  was  difficult  to  distinguish 
his  words?  Where,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific, 
will  you  discover  any  such  utter  disability  of  hearing 
or  discernment  as  can  permit  men  to  drop  or  multiply 
their  /t's  or  transpose  their  w's  and  2;'s?  Who  ever 
heard  an  American  gamin  call  paper  piper,  or  lady 
lidy,  or  rain  rine,  or  take  tike?  Outside  of  a  very 
restricted  district  in  New  England  (it  being  distinctly 
a  Yankee  provincialism)  who  ever  heard  an  American 
call  pound  as  it  seems  to  me  that  all  Englishmen  pro- 
nounce it,  paound?  Says  the  Westminster  Review, 
No.  234,  page  278:  "If  an  Englishman  is  introduced 
as  a  character  in  a  French  vaudeville,  the  first  words 
he  is  made  to  say  are  'Aoh,  nao,'  to  announce  as  it 
were  his  nationality;  this  impurity  in  the  sound  of  o 
is  undoubtedly  a  vice  in  our  pronunciation,  ridiculed 
wherever  we  are  known  in  Europe."  On  the  whole, 
it  appears  to  me  that  if,  as  I  believe  is  the  case,  a 
nasal  twang  is  the  only  fault  that  can  be  found  with 
American  intonation  broadly  considered,  we  make  up 
for  it  and  more  than  make  up  for  it  in  half  a  dozen 
other  respects  in  which  we  speak  our  words  better 
than  the  majority  of  British  people  speak  them.  Prof. 
Ernest  Whitney  put  it  this  way,  in  a  very  elaborate 
review  of  the  matter  published  in  the  New  York  Tri- 
bune: "In  England,  where  we  should  naturally  look 
for  a  standard,  pronunciation  in  general  is  worse  than 
in  America.  That  vulgarisms  are  heard  far  oftener, 
that  carelessness  and  indifference  in  enunciation  are 


32  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

more  common,  even  among  the  higher  classes,  is  the 
frequent  testimony  of  careful  and  practised  observers. 
These  facts  may  be  said  to  be  demonstrated  by  the 
published  testimony  of  a  foremost  British  phonetist." 
And  when  it  is  a  question  of  orthoepy  proper,  the 
deliberate  sounding  of  single  words,  it  will  be  found 
that  in  almost  every  case  of  difference  between  the 
English  and  the  American  practice,  the  difference  is 
due  to  the  American's  following  more  closely  the  spell- 
ing of  the  word,  a  practice  that  can  hardly  result  in 
depraving  the  language  but  rather  the  reverse,  work- 
ing in  the  direction  of  what  is  certainly  very  desirable, 
greater  regularity  and  simplicity.  Thus  the  thor- 
oughly anglicized  French  words  fracas,  trait,  lieu- 
tenant and  charade  are  still  called  frahcah,  tray,  lef- 
tenant  (which  is  quite  anomalous,  neither  French  nor 
English)  and  charahd,  in  England,  but  never  here. 
The  I  of  almond,  commonly  sounded  in  this  country, 
is  silent  abroad.  Sliver,  which  Americans  call  sUver, 
following  the  obvious  analogy  of  the  more  common 
word  liver,  and  following,  too,  the  example  of  Chau- 
cer, is  largely  called  sliver  in  Great  Britain.  Sched- 
ule, which  we  invariably  pronounce  skedule,  is  in 
England  shedule,  being  the  only  word  in  common  use 
in  the  language  in  which  initial  sch  has  the  German 
sound.  Shone,  which  we  make  rhyme  with  bone,  is 
shon  in  England,  a  pronunciation  absolutely  anoma- 
lous, not  following  the  analogy  even  of  any  of  the 
very  few  words  ending  in  -one — like  done,  one  and 


IS     OUR     ENGLISH     DEGENERATING'?       33 

gone — which  do  not  rhyme  with  bone.  The  accentua- 
tion of  the  verb  perfect  on  the  second  syllable,  bring- 
ing it  into  harmony  with  perfume,  cement,  desert, 
present,  product,  progress,  project,  rebel,  record,  and 
other  words  which  are  accented  on  the  final  syllable 
when  used  as  verbs — originated  in  this  country. 
Nephew  and  phial,  which  constitute  in  England  the 
only  exceptions  to  the  otherwise  universal  law  that 
the  digraph  ph,  when  sounded  at  all,  is  sounded  like  /, 
are  both  reduced  to  rule  in  this  country,  by  pronounc- 
ing the  first  nefew  (it  is  nevew  in  England)  and  spell- 
ing the  second  vial.  Hostler,  always  pronounced  by 
Americans  as  it  is  spelled,  is  marked  ostler  in,  I  be- 
lieve, all  British  dictionaries. 

And  in  respect  to  geographical  names,  the  closer 
adherence  of  our  countrymen  to  the  guidance  of  the 
orthography  is,  of  course,  notorious  and  manifest. 
Except  the  dropping,  in  imitation  of  the  French,  of 
the  5  of  Illinois;  the  two  words  Connecticut  and  Ar- 
kansas (the  latter  a  very  doubtful  exception) ;  and  a 
few  terms  like  Sioux,  derived  from  corruptions  of 
Indian  names — it  is  not  easy  to  recall  any  geograph- 
ical appellation  indigenous  to  our  soil  which  is  not 
pronounced  very  nearly  as  it  is  spelled.  And  when 
names  are  imported  with  a  well-authorized  divergence 
between  the  sound  and  the  spelling,  a  strong  tendency 
toward  the  obliteration  of  this  divergence  is  sure  to 
become  manifest.  Warwick  is  about  as  often  War- 
wick as  War'ick  when  spoken  of  in  America ;  Norwich 


34  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

is  more  commonly  Norwich,  I  think,  than  Noridge; 
St.  Louis  and  Louisville  are  often  called  St.  Lewis 
and  Lewisville;  sl  resident  of  Delaware  County  in  New 
York  would  not  know  what  place  was  meant  if  you 
spoke  of  the  county  seat  as  "Daily,"  so  perfectly  set- 
tled is  "Delhi"  as  the  pronunciation  as  well  as  the 
spelling  of  the  name.  A  multitude  of  other  instances 
might  be  mentioned,  among  the  most  remarkable  of 
which,  perhaps,  is  the  change  that  has  taken  place  in 
the  popular  sounding  of  the  name  Chautauqua.  As 
long  as  it  was  spelled  with  a  final  e,  people  persisted 
in  saying  Chautawk,  notwithstanding  that  the  local 
practice  was  always  otherwise;  but  an  immediate 
reformation  was  effected  by  the  simple  expedient  of 
substituting  an  a.  It  is  probably  quite  safe  to  say 
that  no  mispronunciation  of  a  geographical  name, 
growing  out  of  an  attempt  to  follow  too  closely  the 
sound  of  its  letters,  has  ever  become  so  prevalent  in 
Great  Britain  as  even  to  suggest  the  idea  of  making 
the  spelling  conform  to  the  orthoepy,  and,  further- 
more, that  if  such  a  difficulty  occurred,  the  attempted 
remedy  in  question  would  be  found  in  that  country 
quite  unproductive  of  any  change  in  the  popular 
usage. 

Passing  from  orthoepy  to  orthography,  it  hardly 
need  be  said  that  in  every  instance  without  exception 
where  a  change  in  spelling  has  originated  in  the 
United  States,  the  change  has  been  in  the  direction  of 
simplicity,  and  in  the  interest  therefore  of  the  "re- 


IS      OUR      ENGLISH      DEGENERATING^       35 

form"  which  the  Philological  Society  of  Great  Britain 
(not  to  mention  such  individual  names  as  Max  Miiller, 
Sir  J.  A.  H.  Murray,  Prof.  Newman,  the  Duke  of 
Richmond,  and  Mr.  Gladstone)  so  warmly  favors. 
The  dropping  of  the  second  g  in  waggon,  the  second  I 
in  traveller,  the  u  in  parlour  and  similar  words,  the 
me  in  programme  (who  would  think  of  writing  dia- 
gramme  or  telegramme?),  the  e  in  storey  (of  a  house), 
and  the  final  e  in  pease  ^  (plural  of  pea),  are  all 
changes  in  this  direction;  and  so  is  the  substitution 
of  w  for  ugh  in  plough,  and  /  for  ugh  in  draught, 
and  the  abandonment  of  the  spellings  cheque,  shew, 
cyder,  and  especially  gaol,  the  universal  adoption  of 
jail  bringing  this  word  into  harmony  with  the  rest  of 
the  language,  as  there  is  no  other  instance  in  English 
of  a  soft  g  before  a — notwithstanding  that  some  ab- 
surd people,  who  do  not  call  Margaret  Marjaret  or 
Garfield  Jarfield,  will  persist  in  saying  oleomarjarine. 
A  propos  of  the  spelling  traveller,  a  sentence  from 
the  Preface  to  the  latest  British  popular  dictionary, 
the  "Concise  Oxford,"  is  of  interest,  as  indicating  the 
bias  of  some  English  authorities,  for  this  dictionary 
unquestionably  is  an  authority,  perhaps  on  the  whole 
the  very  best  work  of  its  kind  published  in  either 
country;  but  look  at  the  prejudice!  The  editors  say: 
"In  dealing  with  verbs  such  as  level,  jivet,  bias, 
whose  parts  and  derivatives  are  variously  spelt,  the 

^  Of  course  peas  was  not  originally  a  plural  word,  but  nobody  thinks 
of  it  otherwise  now. 


3^  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

final  consonant  being  often  doubled  with  no  phonetic 
or  other  significance,  we  have  as  far  as  possible  fallen 
in  with  the  present  tendency,  which  is  to  drop  the  use- 
less letter,  but  stopped  short  of  recognizing  forms  that 
at  present  strike  every  reader  as  Americanisms;  thus 
we  write  riveted,  riveter,  but  not  traveling,  traveler." 
There  is  some  justification  for  the  doubled  consonant 
in  each  of  these  two  verbs  when  a  suffix  beginning 
with  i  or  e  is  added,  as  having  what  the  sentence 
quoted  well  describes  as  ''phonetic  significance";  for 
it  may  be  argued  that  the  spelling  riveting  might  sug- 
gest the  mispronunciation  rtve-ting  and  traveler  might 
suggest  trayve-ler  (two  syllables),  but  that  is  just 
exactly  as  true  of  the  former  word,  which  the  Con- 
cise Oxford  Dictionary  recognizes,  as  it  is  of  the  lat- 
ter, which  the  same  authority  scorns,  notwithstanding 
the  editors'  recognizing  "the  present  tendency  to  drop 
the  useless  letter"  and  their  implied  admission  that 
the  forms  "that  at  present  strike  every  reader  as  Amer- 
icanisms" are  quite  likely,  in  time,  to  prevail  every- 
where. The  only  reason  for  their  endeavoring  to 
delay  what  they  see  to  be  a  reform  that  is  surely  com- 
ing, is  that  it  originated  in  the  United  States ! 

It  should  be  noted  moreover  that  our  American 
practice  of  dropping  the  u  from  the  termination  of 
many  words  ending  in  England  in  -our  is  more  than 
a  movement  in  the  direction  of  spelling  reform,  for 
it  cancels  the  etymological  misinformation  suggested 
by  the  orthography  in  use  across  the  sea.     Some  peo- 


IS     OUR     ENGLISH     DEGENERATING^        37 

pie  imagine  that  the  u  in  these  words  has  value,  or  at 
least  a  certain  sort  of  interest,  as  indicating  that  they 
came  to  us  through  the  French  and  not  directly  from 
Latin  or  other  tongues — rather  an  unimportant  mat- 
ter at  best;  but  the  trouble  is  that,  with  the  exception 
of  just  two  words  and  those  of  rather  infrequent  use — 
savour  and  tabour — the  indication  either  points  the 
wrong  way  or  would  almost  certainly  be  overlooked 
except  by  persons  familiar  with  entirely  obsolete 
Gallic  spellings.  The  u  is  omitted,  even  in  England, 
from  ambassador,  ancestor,  bachelor,  editor,  emperor, 
error,  exterior,  governor,  inferior,  metaphor,  mirror, 
progenitor,  senator,  superior,  successor  and  torpor, 
every  one  of  which  is  of  French  origin,  while  it  is 
used  in  demeanor  and  succor,  which  are  only  very  re- 
motely and  indirectly  French,  and  in  arbor,  behavior, 
clangor,  flavor,  harbor  and  neighbor,  which  are  not 
French  at  all.  Even  in  ardor,  armor,  candor,  en- 
deavor, favor,  honor,  labor,  odor,  parlor,  rigor,  rumor, 
savior,  splendor,  tumor  and  vapor,  where  the  u  has 
some  color  of  right  to  appear,  it  is  doubtful  whether 
its  insertion  has  much  value  as  suggesting  French 
derivation,  for  in  the  case  of  twelve  of  these  words 
the  ordinary  reader  would  be  quite  certain  to  have  in 
mind  only  the  modern  spelling — ardeur,  armure,  can- 
deur,  faveur,  honneur,  labeur,  odeur,  rigueur,  rumeur, 
splendeur,  tumeur  and  vapeur — which  have  the  u  in- 
deed but  no  0  (and  why  should  not  one  of  these  letters 
be  dropped  as  well  as  the  other?) — while  endeavor, 


21172G 


38  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

parlor  and  savior  come  from  old  French  words  that 
are  themselves  without  the  u — devoir,  parleor  and 
saveor.  The  u  in  all  these  words  is  therefore  either 
useless  or  positively  misleading.  And  finally  in  the 
case  of  color,  clamor,  fervor,  humor,  rancor,  valor 
and  vigor,  it  is  to  be  remarked  that  the  exact  ' 'Amer- 
ican" orthography  actually  occurs  in  old  French! 
"Finally,"  I  said,  but  that  is  not  quite  the  end  of 
British  absurdity  with  these  -our  -or  words.  Insist- 
ent as  our  transatlantic  cousins  are  on  writing  arbour, 
armour,  clamour,  clangour,  colour,  dolour,  flavour, 
honour,  humour,  labour,  odour,  rancour,  rigour, 
savour,  valour,  vapour  and  vigour,  and  "most  un- 
pleasant" as  they  find  the  omission  of  the  excrescent  u 
in  any  of  these  words,  they  nevertheless  make  no 
scruple  of  writing  the  derivatives  in  the  American  way 
— arboreal,  armory,  clamorous,  clangorous,  colorific, 
dolorous,  flavorous,  honorary,  humorous,  laborious, 
odorous,  rancorous,  rigorous,  savory,  valorous,  vapor- 
ize and  vigorous — not  inserting  the  u  in  the  second 
syllable  of  any  one  of  these  words.  The  British  prac- 
tice is,  in  short  and  to  speak  plainly,  a  jumble  of  con- 
fusion, without  rhyme  or  reason,  logic  or  consistency; 
and  if  anybody  finds  the  American  simplification  of 
the  whole  matter  "unpleasant,"  it  can  be  only  because 
he  is  a  victim  of  unreasoning  prejudice  against  which 
no  argument  can  avail. 

In  respect  to  at  least  one  "Yankee"  spelling,  that  of 
plow,  and  probably  others,  it  should  not  be  forgotten 


IS     OUR     ENGLISH      DEGENERATING?        39 

that  the  prevalent  practice  in  this  country  agrees  with 
the  universal  custom  of  an  earlier  time,  from  which 
divergence  without  good  reason  has  gradually  grown 
up  in  England.  And  this  brings  us  to  another 
strongly  marked  characteristic  of  our  American  speech 
— its  greater  permanence  and  steadiness,  so  to  speak, 
as  compared  with  that  of  the  mother  country.  This 
peculiarity  will  appear  very  clearly,  where  it  might 
least  be  expected,  on  close  examination  of  any  list  of 
words  supposed  to  have  been  greatly  distorted  in  their 
meaning,  or  even  manufactured  out  of  whole  cloth,  by 
erring  Yankees,  a  very  large  proportion  of  which  will 
almost  always  be  found  to  be  good  old  English,  grown 
obsolescent  or  obsolete  at  home,  but  preserved  in  the 
New  World  in  their  pristine  vitality  and  force;  and 
conversely,  on  examining  such  a  book  as  "The  Lost 
Beauties  of  the  English  Language,"  by  the  well  known 
Scotch  litterateur  Dr.  Charles  Mackay,  more  than  a 
hundred  of  the  entries  therein  listed  being  perfectly 
familiar  in  the  United  States,  however  definitely  they 
may  have  been  "lost"  in  Great  Britain.  Here  are 
some  examples,  taken  almost  at  random:  Aftermath; 
bilk,  to  defraud;  blare,  to  cry  out,  as  with  the  sound 
of  a  trumpet;  blear-eyed;  blurt,  to  cry  out  suddenly; 
burly;  chaffer,  to  haggle;  cleave,  to  split;  clump,  to 
walk  awkwardly;  croon,  to  hum  a  tune;  daze;  deft; 
delve;  don,  to  put  on;  drouth;  drowsy;  duds,  old 
clothes;  dumps,  melancholy;  gall,  sore  place;  glint; 
glower;  gown;  grip,  to  seize;  hale,  in  good  health; 


40  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

hotfoot;  laze,  to  idle;  loathly;  loon,  a  stupid  lout; 
lovable;  lubber;  maul,  a  heavy  hammer;  mole,  a  spot 
on  the  skin;  mother-tongue;  overhopeful;  raid,  a 
predatory  incursion  on  horseback;  rift;  roil;  rung  of 
a  ladder;  sag;  slake;  slick;  smock;  soggy;  spunky; 
stalwart;  stowaway;  stubby;  swelter;  taut;  thill; 
throaty;  thud;  tiff;  toot;  trig;  watershed;  yowl.  Evi- 
dence pointing  in  the  same  direction  may  be  found 
in  Halliwell's  Dictionary  of  Archaisms  and  Provin- 
cialisms, which  contains,  presumably,  no  word  now 
in  good  use  in  Great  Britain  in  the  meaning  given, 
but  in  which  the  American  reader  will  discover  a 
considerable  number  of  terms — nearly  three  hundred, 
I  should  say — which  he  has  heard  all  his  life.  I  give 
the  following  examples,  not  including  any  that  are 
marked  provincial,  the  implication  being  that  all  these 
words  were  once  good  English,  but  are  no  longer  in 
common  use  in  the  mother  country:  Adze  (a  carpen- 
ter's tool) ;  affectation  ("a  curious  desire  for  a  thing 
which  nature  hath  not  given  ") ;  afterclap;  agape; 
age  as  a  verb;  air  in  the  sense  of  appearance;  amerce; 
andirons;  angry,  said  of  a  wound;  appellant  (one 
who  appeals) ;  apple-pie  order;  baker's  dozen;  bam- 
boozle; bay  in  a  barn;  bay  window;  bearers  at  a 
funeral;  berate;  between  whiles;  bicker;  blanch  (to 
whiten);  brain  as  a  verb;  burly;  cast  (to  tie  and 
throw  dowTi,  as  a  horse) ;  catcall;  cesspool;  chafe  (to 
grow  angry) ;  clodhopper;  clutch  (to  seize) ;  clutter; 
cockerel;  coddle;  copious;  cosey;  counterfeit  money; 


IS     OUR      ENGLISH      DEGENERATING?        4I 

crazy  in  the  sense  of  dilapidated,  as  applied  to  a  build- 
ing; crock  (an  earthen  vessel);  crone  (an  old 
woman)  ;  crook  (a  bend) ;  croon;  cross-grained  in  the 
sense  of  obstinate  or  peevish;  cross-patch;  cross  pur- 
poses; cuddle;  cuff  (to  beat) ;  deft;  din;  dormer  win- 
dow; earnest,  money  given  to  bind  a  bargain;  egg 
on;  greenhorn;  hasp;  jack  of  all  trades;  jamb  of  a 
door;  lintel;  list  (selvage  of  cloth) ;  loop  hole;  nettled 
(out  of  temper) ;  newel;  ornate;  perforce;  piping  hot; 
pit  (mark  left  by  small-pox) ;  quail  (to  shrink) ; 
ragamuffin;  riffraff;  rigmarole;  scant;  seedy  ("miser- 
able looking");  shingles;  sorrel  (the  color);  out  of 
sorts;  stale  ("wanting  freshness");  sutler;  thill; 
toady;  trash;  underpinning.  All  these  words,  with 
many  others  equally  familiar  in  the  United  States, 
are  apparently  regarded  by  Halliwell  as  having  be- 
come obsolete  in  England. 

The  preceding  remarks  on  Halliwell  are  repeated 
from  the  present  writer's  earlier  book,  "Our  Common 
Speech,"  and  a  curious  side-light  is  thrown  on  the 
prevalence  of  dialectical  diversities  of  speech  in  Great 
Britain  by  the  fact  that  a  kindly  and  courteous  Eng- 
lish reviewer  of  that  book,  Mr.  William  Archer,  was 
amazed  at  anybody's  supposing  that  the  words  quoted 
are  obsolete  in  Great  Britain.  "Most  of  them,"  he 
says  ("America  Today,"  page  222)  "are  in  every- 
day use;  how  Halliwell  ever  came  to  class  these  words 
as  archaic  I  cannot  imagine."  He  did  so  class  them 
nevertheless;  and  as  he  was  F.  R.  S.,  Honorary  Mem- 


42  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

ber  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Literature  and  of  the 
Ashmolean  Society  at  Oxford,  and  connected  with  a 
dozen  other  associations  of  learned  men,  he  certainly 
cannot  be  considered  an  ignorant  person;  and  the 
only  possible  conclusion  is  that  great  numbers  of 
words  perfectly  familiar  to  the  dramatic  critic  never 
had  come  to  the  notice  of  a  distinguished  British 
lexicographer  except  in  ancient  writings,  so  that  he 
supposed  them  to  be  entirely  out  of  use.  Find,  if 
you  can,  any  two  American  writers  who  entertain  any 
such  diversity  of  view  about  any  list  of  words  you 
can  draw  up. 

It  would  not  be  difficult,  on  the  other  hand,  to  com- 
pile quite  a  list  of  Briticisms,^  including  words,  re- 
cently invented,  and  seemingly  without  necessity,  in 
Great  Britain  (where  the  "boldness  of  innovation  on 
this  subject,"  amounting  to  "absolute  licentiousness," 
which  Noah  Webster  noted  and  deplored  in  his  pref- 
ace of  1847,  still  runs  rampant) — such  as  navvy  for 
laborer,  randomly  for  at  random,  and  bumper  for 
enormous;  and  a  larger  list  of  old  words  now  used  in 
that  country  in  a  comparatively  new  and  in  some  re- 
spects objectionable  signification  not  generally  recog- 
nized in  the  United  States,  such  as  knocked-up  for 
fatigued,  famous  for  excellent,  rot  for  nonsense,  good 

1  The  present  writer  will  not  assert  positively  that  he  invented  this 
now  well  accepted  word;  but  believes  that  his  use  of  it  in  a  paper  read 
before  the  Albany  Institute,  June  6,  1882  (Transactions,  Vol.  10,  p 
341 )  is  the  first  on  record,  antedating  by  fifteen  months  as  it  does  the 
earliest  citation  given  by  Murray. 


IS     OUR      ENGLISH      DEGENERATING^       43 

form  for  in  good  taste,  trap  for  carriage,  tub  for  bathe, 
assist  for  be  present,  gun  for  gunner,  whip  for  driver, 
tidy  for  almost  anything  complimentary,  and  most 
emphatically  expect  for  suppose,  with  no  implication 
of  anticipation  of  the  future,  "a  misuse"  which  Mur- 
ray says  "is  often  cited  as  an  Americanism,  but  is 
very  common  in  dialectical,  vulgar  or  carelessly  col- 
loquial speech  in  England."  It  occurs  multitudi- 
nously  in  English  books,  even  those  of  good  writers, 
as  everybody  knows.  You  will  find  it  a  dozen  times, 
for  instance,  in  Anthony  Hope's  "The  Great  Miss 
Driver" — "I  expect  he  liked  the  scholar  and  gentle- 
man part"  (chap.  2),  "I  don't  expect  Aunt  Sara 
shaved  you  much"  (chap.  6),  and  so  on.  This  mis- 
use is  certainly  the  reverse  of  "very  common"  in  this 
country;  I  question  whether  the  American  reader  can 
remember  ever  hearing  it  except  in  Great  Britain.  It 
may  be  added  that  Mr.  Hope  is  guilty,  in  the  book  re- 
ferred to,  of  several  gross  errors  in  syntax,  like  "he's 
been  to  so  many  queer  places"  (chap.  4),  "Jenny  and 
I  had  been  to  Fillingford"  (chap.  11),  and,  perhaps 
worst  of  all,  "really  it  must  be  her.'' 

It  is  not  only,  however,  in  recent  coinages  and 
anomalous  assigning  of  new  meanings  to  old  terms 
that  the  English  have  made  rather  reckless  changes  in 
the  body  of  our  speech  where  the  American  practice 
adheres  to  the  former  standard.  They  have  swung 
off  in  the  opposite  direction  also,  curtailing  to  no 
good  purpose  the  significance  of  a  number  of  words. 


44  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

A  "young  person"  is  always  a  girl  in  England,  the 
term  never  being  applied  to  a  boy.  A  latter-day 
Briton — notwithstanding  an  example  so  recent  as 
Macaulay,  "the  richest  inhabitants  exhibited  their 
wealth,  not  by  riding  in  carriages" — is  horrified  at  the 
idea  of  riding  in  anything  built  on  the  coach  plan, 
unless  possibly  it  may  be  an  automobile,  though  he 
makes  no  scruple  of  riding  in  an  omnibus  or  a  street 
car;  when  you  enter  a  vehicle  at  the  end,  you  ride; 
when  at  the  side,  you  drive.  A  beast  is  now  in  Great 
Britain  always  a  member  of  the  genus  bos,  and  almost 
always  an  animal  that  is  to  be  fed  for  beef;  English 
official  market  reports  give  prices  for  "beasts," 
"sheep,"  "calves,"  "pigs"  and  "milch  cows,"  and  I 
have  read  in  a  Dublin  newspaper,  speaking  of  an 
outbreak  of  rabies,  that  "two  dogs,  five  beasts,  one 
pig  and  one  horse  were  killed  during  the  week." 
Most  remarkable  of  all  is  the  queer  British  notion 
that  an  invalid  must  be  described  as  ill,  and  by  no 
means  as  sick,  unless  he  happens  to  be  nauseated.  I 
call  it  queer,  because  no  Englishman  would  charac- 
terize the  person  as  an  ill  man  or  an  ill  child,  or  speak 
of  him  as  confined  to  an  ill-room  or  the  ill-bay  on  a 
ship,  or  stretched  upon  an  ill-bed;  no  Englishman 
would  say  that  a  soldier  answered  an  ill  call  or  went 
home  on  ill  leave,  or  that  a  quarantine  officer  was 
called  by  flying  an  ill  flag,  or  that  anybody  was  home- 
ill  or  love-ill  or  heart-ill ;  no  Englishman  would  hesi- 
tate to  say  that  somebody  sickened  or  was  sickly. 


IS     OUR      ENGLISH      DEGENERATING*?       45' 

The  constant  usage  of  centuries  in  Great  Britain  sup- 
ports our  American  practice  of  regarding  sick  as  a 
general  term.  It  is  so  used  sixty  times  in  the  King 
James  Bible,  where  also  sickness  in  the  same  sense 
occurs  22  times;  sick,  with  no  implication  of  nausea, 
is  found  in  Shakespeare  138  times,  and  sickness  48 
times.  The  English  prayer-book  not  only  contains 
services  for  the  "visitation  of  the  sick"  and  the  "com- 
munion of  the  sick"  and  specifies  that  "it  appertain- 
eth  to  the  office  of  a  deacon  to  search  for  the  sick," 
but  requires  those  who  use  it  to  make  intercession  for 
"all  sick  persons"  as  often  as  the  Litany  is  read. 
Notwithstanding  all  that,  the  present  fashion  in  Great 
Britain  absolutely  forbids  you  to  say  that  anybody  is 
sick,  unless  his  stomach  is  upset. 

Another  peculiarity  of  recent  British  speech  and 
literature  is  the  insertion  of  superfluous  words  that  an 
American  speaker  or  writer  would  never  think  of  put- 
ting in.  So  important  an  authority  as  Henry  J. 
Nicoll  says — "Landmarks  of  English  Literature," 
Introduction,  page  18 — "Every  critic  occasionally 
meets  in  with  works  of  great  fame  of  which  he  can- 
not appreciate  the  merit."  Beaconsfield  writes,  "En- 
dymion,"  Chap.  100,  "He  was  by  way  of  intimating 
that  he  was  engaged  in  a  great  work."  So  Trollope, 
"Dr.  Thome,"  Chap.  19,  "Is  he  by  way  of  a  gentle- 
man?" In  Herbert  Spencer's  "Education,"  Chap. 
10,  we  read  that  "in  Russia  the  infant  mortality  is 
something  enormous,"  and  in  one  of  Charles  Dickens' 


46  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

letters  to  Mr.  Forster:  "The  daily  difference  in 
(a  ship's)  rolling,  as  she  burns  the  coals  out,  is  some- 
thing absolutely  fearful."  It  need  hardly  be  re- 
marked that  the  italicized  words  in  these  sentences 
have  to  be  removed  before  they  become  intelligible, 
or  at  least  agreeable  to  persons  appreciating  really 
correct  speech.  The  peculiar  misuse  of  the  affix  ever, 
as  in  asking,  "Whatez/er  are  you  doing?"  that  one  so 
often  notices  in  the  conversation  particularly  of  Eng- 
lish ladies,  is  another  instance  of  the  same  failing. 
And  who  has  not  been  annoyed  and  disgusted  by  the 
innumerable  gots  with  which  so  many  English  pages 
fairly  bristle,  the  ugly  word,  perhaps  the  most  ca- 
cophanous  of  the  language,  being  constantly  stuck  in 
(as  in  "Endymion,"  Chap.  50 — "I  have  got  some 
House  of  Commons  men  dining  with  me")  where  the 
idea  of  getting  is  not  intended  in  the  slightest  degree 
to  be  conveyed,  but  only  that  of  present  possession. 
The  general  American  dislike  of  this  ugly  word,  and 
our  practice,  where  the  past  participle  of  the  verb  get 
must  be  used,  of  employing  the  old  and  softer  form 
gotten  (now  very  unfashionable  in  England),  certainly 
mark  tendencies  in  the  reverse  direction  to  that  of 
ruining  the  language. 

A  misuse  of  the  progressive  form  of  verbs  which  is 
becoming  somewhat  fashionable  in  this  country  but  I 
believe  to  have  originated  rather  recently  in  England, 
may  be  noted  here,  a  misuse  confined  chiefly  to  writ- 
ing.    That  is  the  expression  'T  am  sending  you"  when 


IS      OUR     ENGLISH      DEGENERATINGY        47 

one  should  say  ''I  send  you,"  or  "I  am  giving  a  din- 
ner next  week"  when  one  should  say  "I  give  (or  am 
to  give)  a  dinner."  The  progressive  form  indicates 
either  action  often  repeated,  as  in  the  correct  phrase 
'T  am  sending  reports  every  week,"  or  else  continuous 
action,  as  one  might  say  'T  am  writing"  when  he  is 
actually  engaged  in  writing  at  the  moment.  To  use 
that  form  for  other  purposes  is  unidiomatic  and  inad- 
visable, as  blurring  the  definite  meaning. 

To  sum  up,  it  appears  to  me  that  the  chief  points 
of  difference  between  the  speech  of  the  United  States 
and  that  of  Great  Britain  are  that  (1)  we  have  no 
dialects,  either  geographical  or  social,  whereas  there 
are  any  number  of  them  in  Great  Britain;  (2)  that 
our  pronunciation,  while  sometimes  regrettably  harsh, 
is  much  clearer  and  more  systematic  than  that  of  our 
transatlantic  cousins;  (3)  that  our  spelling,  in  every 
case  where  there  is  well  established  difference,  is  to 
be  preferred  to  that  of  England  on  any  possible  basis 
of  comparison;  and  (4) — a  point  that  will  be  some- 
what elaborately  developed  in  the  third  chapter  of  this 
book — that  the  mother  tongue  suffers  far  less  in  this 
country  than  abroad  from  freakish  changes  of  fashion, 
whether  in  regard  to  the  vocabulary  itself  or  the  sig- 
nificance attached  to  hundreds  of  words.  As  a  dis- 
tinguished and  eloquent  Irishman,  the  late  Rev.  Dr. 
John  Hall,  wrote  in  the  New  York  Ledger  of  Aug. 
28,  1880 — and  it  is  just  as  true  today: 


48  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

"English  people  sometimes  speak  of  Americans  as  if  they 
had  a  degenerate  variation  of  the  English  tongue.  The  preju- 
dice is  less  strong  than  it  used  to  be,  but  it  still  lingers  in 
many  quarters.  The  American  portion  of  the  family  left  the 
mother  country  when  the  language  was  free  of  many  recent 
and  undesirable  additions;  and  it  consisted,  moreover,  in  a 
marked  degree,  of  educated  persons.  The  result  is  that  Ameri- 
can English  contrasts  favorably,  as  a  whole,  with  that  spoken 
in  the  British  Isles;  and  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  in  Lon- 
don, the  place  of  the  present  writing,  there  is  more  barbarous 
and  indefensible  English  uttered  than  in  all  the  United  States." 


CHAPTER  TWO 
TEN  IMPORTANT  TREATISES 

"Here,  it  is  said,  is  a  dictionary  of  Americanisms,  compiled 
by  an  American,  a  large,  closely  printed  octavo.  To  what  a 
condition  has  the  English  language  been  brought  in  America! 
I  have  heard  such  remarks  made  more  than  once  by  intelligent 
Englishmen;  I  have  seen  them  more  than  once  in  print." — 
Richard  Grant  White,  Atlantic  Monthly,  April,  1878. 

"A  collection  of  unauthorized  words  and  phrases  to  be  found 
in  the  pages  of  respectable  English  writers  of  the  present  day, 
on  the  plan  of  Pickering's  Vocabulary,  would  be  a  very  ac- 
ceptable service  rendered  to  our  literature." — Eclectic  Review, 
London,  April,  1820. 

Neither  the  general  drift  of  the  preceding  chapter 
nor  any  allegation  or  argument  it  contains  is  to  be 
taken  as  evincing  the  smallest  inclination  to  dispute 
or  minimize  the  obvious  truth  that  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  new,  and  in  many  cases  uncalled  for,  words  and 
expressions  have  been  invented  and  now  pass  current 
in  the  United  States,  or  that  the  meaning  of  various 
others  has  been  gradually  warped,  to  the  injury  of 
the  language,  just  as  has  occurred  in  England.  This 
part  of  the  subject  has  been  laboriously  investigated 
by  a  line  of  diligent  students,  so  laboriously  that  there 
is  little  left  to  say  about  it  except  in  the  way  of  cor- 

49 


50  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

rections  and  additions.  Not  to  speak  of  articles  in 
periodicals,  brief  essays,  and  single  chapters,  no  fewer 
than  fifteen  books  devoted  entirely  to  so-called 
Americanisms  in  speech  have  from  time  to  time  ap- 
peared— ten  of  them  of  special  importance — Picker- 
ing's "Vocabulary,"  published  in  1816;  Webster's 
"Letter,"  in  1817;  Elwyn's  "Glossary,"  in  1859;  De 
Vere's  "Americanisms,"  in  1872;  Bartlett's  "Diction- 
ary," first  edition  in  1848,  second  in  1859,  third  in 
1860,  fourth  and  last  in  1877;  Farmer's  "American- 
isms," in  1889;  Norton's  "Political  Americanisms," 
in  1890;  Clapin's  "Dictionary  of  Americanisms,"  in 
1902;  Thornton's  "American  Glossary,"  in  1912;  and 
Mencken's  "American  Language,"  in  1919.  It  is 
worth  noting  that  Norton's  little  compilation  and 
Mencken's  monumental  treatise  are  the  only  works 
later  than  Bartlett's  for  which  the  world  is  indebted  to 
a  native  American ;  for  Mr.  Farmer  is  an  Englishman 
who  had  never,  I  believe,  even  visited  this  country 
before  he  wrote;  Mr.  Clapin  is  a  Canadian,  though  he 
passed  several  years  in  the  United  States;  and  Prof. 
Thornton  is  English  by  birth,  an  American  citizen 
however  by  naturalization  and  a  resident  of  this  coun- 
try for  half  his  life,  having  been  a  member  of  the 
faculty  of  the  Oregon  University  for  nearly  twenty 
years,  and  being  still  a  member  of  the  Philadelphia 
bar.  The  student  of  language  will  find  much  to  in- 
terest and  not  a  little  to  amuse  him  in  each  of  the 
collections  of  monstrosities  named,  for  collections  of 


TEN      IMPORTANT     TREATISES  5I 

monstrosities — with  the  exception  of  Webster's  "Let- 
ter"— they  mainly  are. 


John  Pickering's  "Vocabulary,  or  Collection  of 
Words  and  Phrases"  which  have  been  supposed  to  be 
peculiar  to  the  United  States,  originated  in  the  au- 
thor's practice,  while  living  in  London  during  the  first 
two  years  of  the  last  century,  of  noting  down,  for  the 
purpose  of  avoiding  them,  such  of  his  own  verbal 
expressions  as  were  condemned  for  American  errors 
by  his  British  friends.  After  returning  to  this  coun- 
try, he  communicated  a  paper  on  the  subject,  consist- 
ing of  an  essay  and  a  list  of  words,  to  the  American 
Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences,  and  shortly  after,  hav- 
ing largely  amplified  the  vocabulary,  submitted  the 
whole  to  the  candor  of  his  countrymen  for  their  in- 
struction and  admonition.  The  poor  man  was  deeply 
concerned  for  the  future  of  the  language  in  America, 
and  very  much  in  earnest  in  his  work.  It  might  in- 
deed be  a  long  time,  he  thought,  before  it  should  "be 
the  lot  of  many  Americans  to  publish  works  which 
will  be  read  out  of  their  own  country;  yet  all  who 
have  the  least  tincture  of  learning  will  continue  to 
feel  an  ardent  desire  to  acquaint  themselves  with  Eng- 
lish authors.  Let  us  then,"  he  proceeds,  "imagine 
the  time  to  have  arrived  when  Americans  shall  no 
longer  be  able  to  understand  the  works  of  Milton, 


52  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Pope,  Swift,  Addison  and  other  English  authors 
justly  styled  classic  without  the  aid  of  a  translation 
into  a  language  that  is  to  be  called  at  some  future  day 
the  American  tongue !  .  .  .  Nor  is  this  the  only  view 
in  which  a  radical  change  of  language  would  be  an 
evil.  To  say  nothing  of  the  facilities  afforded  by  a 
common  language  in  the  ordinary  intercourse  of  busi- 
ness, it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  our  religion  and 
our  laws  are  studied  in  the  language  of  the  nation 
from  which  we  are  descended;  and,  with  the  loss  of 
the  language,  we  should  finally  suffer  the  loss  of  those 
peculiar  advantages  which  we  now  derive  from  the 
investigations  of  the  jurists  and  divines  of  that 
country." 

To  do  what  lay  in  his  power  to  avert  a  calamity  so 
appalling,  was  the  object  that  Mr.  Pickering  had  in 
view;  and  lest  his  own  impressions  should  be  faulty, 
or  his  imperfect  knowledge  of  pure  English  should 
prove  inadequate  to  the  task  of  properly  branding  all 
the  principal  American  corruptions,  he  took  the  pains 
of  submitting  his  list  to  several  well-informed  friends, 
and  particularly  to  two  English  gentlemen  whose  au- 
thority he  considered  beyond  question,  although  he 
admits  that  as  they  had  lived  some  twenty  years  in 
America,  "their  ear  had  lost  much  of  that  sensibility 
to  deviations  from  the  pure  English  idiom  which 
would  once  have  enabled  them  to  pronounce  with  de- 
cision in  cases  where  they  now  felt  doubts."  As 
finally  published,  the  "Vocabulary"  contains  over  five 


TEN      IMPORTANT     TREATISES  53 

hundred  words,  of  which  not  more  than  about  fifty 
are  really  of  American  origin  and  at  any  time  in  gen- 
eral respectable  use.  As  examples  of  these  may  be 
cited:  Backwoodsman,  belittle,  bookstore,  breadstuff, 
caucus,  creek  in  the  sense  of  brook  or  small  stream, 
gubernatorial,  intervale,  salt-lick,  portage,  rapids, 
samp,  section  of  the  country,  sleigh,  and  staging  for 
scaffolding.  The  other  nine-tenths  of  the  book  con- 
sists of  mere  vulgarisms  and  blunders,  unauthorized 
expressions  invented  by  eccentric  writers  and  never 
generally  adopted,  and  words  really  British  in  origin 
though  perhaps  not  current  in  good  London  society. 

II 

Noah  Webster's  "Letter  to  the  Honorable  John 
Pickering  on  the  subject  of  his  Vocabulary"  is  a  duo- 
decimo of  sixty  pages,  dated  "Dec.  1816."  The  lexi- 
cographer regarded  himself,  or  the  principles  that  he 
taught,  as  at  least  indirectly  attacked  by  the  "Vocab- 
ulary" without  necessity  or  reason.  As  for  Mr.  Pick- 
ering's apprehension  that  American  speech  might  be- 
come in  time  so  depraved  that  English  authors  could 
not  be  read  in  this  country  without  translation,  he 
says  he  "might  oppose  to  this  supposition  another, 
which  is  nearly  as  probable,  that  the  rivers  in  America 
will  turn  their  courses,  and  flow  from  the  sea  to  the 
tops  of  the  hills."  Whatever  change  may  be  taking 
place,  moreover,  he  thinks  it  quite  vain  to  attempt  to 


54  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

stop,  especially  as  changes  are  occurring  in  England 
as  well:  "You  take  some  pains,"  he  says,  ''to  ascer- 
tain the  point,  whether  the  people  of  this  country  now 
speak  and  write  the  English  language  with  purity. 
The  result  is,  that  we  have,  in  several  instances,  de- 
parted from  the  standard  of  the  language,  as  spoken 
and  written  in  England  at  the  present  day.  Be  it  so 
— it  is  equally  true,  that  the  English  have  departed 
from  the  standard,  as  it  appears  in  the  works  of  Ad- 
dison. And  this  is  acknowledged  by  yourself.  It  is 
equally  true  that  Addison,  Pope  and  Johnson  deviated 
from  the  standard  of  the  age  of  Elizabeth.  Now,  sir, 
where  is  the  remedy?"  Wherever  else  it  may  lie — 
if  remedy  is  desirable  or  possible — it  certainly  does 
not  lie.  Dr.  Webster  thought,  in  slavish  imitation  of 
British  practices.  "With  regard  to  the  general  prin- 
ciple that  we  must  use  only  such  words  as  the  Eng- 
lish use,"  he  proceeds,  "let  me  repeat,  that  the  re- 
striction is,  in  the  nature  of  the  thing,  impracticable, 
and  the  demand  that  we  should  observe  it,  is  as  im- 
proper as  it  is  arrogant.  Equally  impertinent  is  it  to 
ridicule  us  for  retaining  the  use  of  genuine  English 
words,  because  they  happen  to  be  obsolete  in  London, 
or  in  the  higher  circles  of  life.  There  are  many  in- 
stances in  which  we  retain  the  genuine  use  of  words, 
and  the  genuine  English  pronunciation,  which  they 
have  corrupted;  in  pronunciation  they  have  intro- 
duced more  corruptions,  within  half  a  century,  than 
were  ever  before  introduced  in  five  centuries,  not  even 


TEN      IMPORTANT      TREATISES  ^^ 

excepting  the  periods  of  conquest.  Many  of  these 
changes  in  England  are  attributable  to  false  princi- 
ples, introduced  into  popular  elementary  books  writ- 
ten by  mere  sciolists  in  language,  and  diffused  by  the 
instrumentality  of  the  stage.  Let  the  English  remove 
the  beam  from  their  own  eye,  before  they  attempt  to 
pull  the  mote  from  ours ;  and  before  they  laugh  at  our 
vulgar  keow,  geown,  neow,  let  them  discard  their  po- 
lite keind,  and  geuide;  a  fault  precisely  similar  in 
origin,  and  equally  a  perversion  of  genuine  English 
pronunciation."  Brave  and  sensible  words  are  these; 
their  teaching  may  well  be  laid  to  heart  to-day! 

Ill 

Dr.  Elwyn's  "Glossary  of  Supposed  Americanisms" 
was  undertaken,  as  the  preface  informs  us,  "to  show 
how  much  there  yet  remains,  in  this  country,  of  lan- 
guage and  customs  directly  brought  from  our  remotest 
ancestry" — a  purpose  quite  different  from  that  of 
Mr.  Pickering;  but  the  chief  value  of  the  book  is  in 
the  contribution  it  makes  to  our  knowledge  of  Penn- 
sylvania provincialisms,  of  which  the  author  was  evi- 
dently a  careful  observer.  About  four  hundred  and 
sixty  words  are  included,  of  which  a  clear  majority 
would  be  quite  as  little  understood  in  decent  American 
as  in  decent  British  society;  but  it  seems  that  we  have 
been  accused  of  manufacturing  the  whole  list,  while 
the  fact  is  that  they  are  one  and  all  of  foreign  origin. 


56  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

The  book  is  carelessly  written,   and  not  accurately 
alphabetized. 

IV 

Scheie  de  Vere's  "Americanisms,"  a  small  octavo  of 
something  less  than  seven  hundred  pages,  differs  from 
the  other  works  mentioned  in  not  adopting  the  dic- 
tionary form,  but  presenting  our  verbal  peculiarities 
as  arranged  in  various  classes — those  invented  by  the 
Indian,  the  Dutchman,  the  Frenchman,  the  Spaniard, 
the  German,  the  Negro,  and  the  Chinaman;  expres- 
sions peculiar  to  the  West,  to  the  church,  to  politics 
and  to  trade;  marine  and  railroad  terms;  cant  and 
slang;  new  words  and  nicknames,  etc.  The  author 
has  been  accused  of  plagiarizing  from  Bartlett,  and 
doubtless  did  avail  himself  freely  of  the  labors  of  that 
lexicographer;  but  he  added  a  good  deal  of  original 
matter,  and  his  book  possesses  an  interest  of  its  own. 
About  four  thousand  items  appear  in  the  index. 

V 

Bartlett's  "Dictionary"  (or,  to  give  the  full  title, 
"Dictionary  of  Americanisms,  a  Glossary  of  Words 
and  Phrases  usually  regarded  as  peculiar  to  the 
United  States,"  by  John  Russell  Bartlett)  is,  in  its 
latest  edition,  a  bulky  octavo  of  over  eight  hundred 
pages,  exceedingly  well  printed,  and  containing  some- 
thing above  5600  entries,  but  hardly  representing,  I 


TEN      IMPORTANT      TREATISES  57 

think,  more  than  about  450  genuine  and  distinct 
Americanisms  now  in  respectable  use — less  than  one- 
twelfth  of  the  whole  number  of  articles.  Of  the  re- 
mainder, nearly  four  hundred  words  and  phrases  are 
set  down  by  the  author  himself  as  of  British  origin, 
some  being  used  in  this  country  in  exactly  the  same 
manner  as  on  their  native  soil,  while  others  have  been 
slightly  altered  in  meaning,  application  or  sound.  At 
least  750  more  are  also  certainly  British,  though  Mr. 
Bartlett  was  not  aware  of  it.  The  rest  of  the  dic- 
tionary— say  three  quarters — is  made  up,  partly  of 
expressions  never  in  general  use,  or  long  since  an- 
tiquated; partly  of  mere  mispronunciations,  gram- 
matical errors  and  unauthorized  contractions;  partly 
of  vulgar  slang;  and  partly  of  wearisome  repetitions. 
Yet  I  by  no  means  desire  to  be  understood  as  setting 
down  the  work  for  a  mass  of  rubbish.  On  the  con- 
trary, it  contains  a  vast  fund  of  interesting  informa- 
tion, which  any  man  devoted  to  the  study  of  English 
dialects  might  well  be  proud  to  have  brought  together; 
and  it  is  still  indubitably,  forty  years  after  the  last 
edition  appeared,  the  standard  work  on  the  subject, 
for  certainly  neither  Farmer  nor  Clapin  could  seri- 
ously be  regarded  as  having  displaced  it,  and  Thorn- 
ton and  Mencken  worked  on  an  entirely  different 
principle.  Only  it  is  a  pity  that  the  diligent  com- 
piler, in  his  anxiety  to  make  a  big  book,  allowed 
himself  such  extreme  latitude  in  his  conception  of 
what  constitutes  an  Americanism  in  speech,  and  con- 


^8  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

sequently  buried  his  grains  of  wheat  under  so  ap- 
palling a  mountain  of  chaff. 

It  may  be  worth  while  to  present  some  samples  of 
the  words  that  are  improperly  included  in  Bartlett's 
"Dictionary,"  as  showing  the  way  in  which  a  tremen- 
dous number  of  pseudo-Americanisms  have  been,  first 
and  last,  accumulated  by  people  who  find  satisfaction 
in  counting  them  up. 

Of  the  385  words  and  phrases  that  the  author  him- 
self sets  down  as  of  British  origin,  the  following  ex- 
amples may  be  mentioned : 

To  beat  one  all-to-pieces,  or  all-to-smash;  allow, 
for  assert;  argufy;  awfully,  for  very;  hail,  the  handle 
of  a  bucket;  harm,  for  yeast;  hound,  for  determined 
or  resolved;   a  hull,  on  the  stock  exchange;   hump- 
tious,  for  sel f -conceited ;   can't  come  it;  cap  sheaf; 
cheek,  for  impudence;  chowder;  clip,  a  blow,  as  "he 
hit  him  a  clip";  to  collide;  to  cotton  to  a  man;  cracker, 
for  a  small  biscuit;  cute;  to  cut  stick;  a  deck  of  cards; 
deputize;  doxologize;  dreadfid,  for  very,  as  "dread- 
ful"  fine;   every  once  in  a  while;  fall  of  the  year; 
first-rate;  fix,  to  put  in  order;   flapjack;  flummux; 
freshet;  gallivant;  galoshes;   given  name;   goodies; 
to  gulp;  hand-running;  hard  up;  heft,  for  weight; 
help,  for  servants;  homely,  not  handsome;  hook,  to 
steal;  immigration;  jeopardize;  julep;  to  keep  com- 
pany; to  loan;  mad,  for  angry;  mighty,  for  very;  old 
fogy;  over  the  left;  pair  of  stairs;  pled,  for  pleaded; 
pry,  a  lever;  to  pidl  up  stakes;  to  reckon,  meaning  to 


TEN      IMPORTANT     TREATISES  59 

think,  believe  or  suppose;  reliable;  rooster;  no  great 
shakes;  sophomore;  spell  of  weather;  spry;  spunk; 
starvation;  stricken,  for  struck;  sundown;  swap;  to 
take  on;  talented;  teetotaller;  ugly,  for  ill-tempered; 
to  wallop,  and  to  whale;  whapper;  to  whittle,  and  to 
wilt.  In  many  cases  no  reason  whatever  is  assigned 
for  including  these  words  in  a  list  of  Americanisms; 
very  seldom  is  any  better  cause  mentioned  than  that 
they  are  provincial  or  antiquated  in  Great  Britain; 
and  sometimes  the  pretext  is  of  the  most  trivial  char- 
acter, as  in  the  case  of  the  word  whittle,  which  is  put 
in,  forsooth,  because  both  the  verb  and  the  practice 
are  thought  to  be  more  common  in  America  than  in 
England!  But  the  most  surprising  instance  among 
this  class  of  words  has  yet  to  be  mentioned — the  use 
of  the  adverb  "immediately,"  in  place  of  the  phrase 
"as  soon  as" — "the  deer  fell  dead  immediately  they 
shot  him."  This  wretched  expression,  Mr.  Bartlett 
writes,  is  creeping  into  use  from  England.  What 
possible  sense  there  can  be  in  counting  as  an  Ameri- 
canism a  villainously  ungrammatical  construction 
which  is  "creeping  into  use  in  this  country  from  Eng- 
land," it  would  puzzle  Fitzedward  Hall  himself  to 
explain. 

The  words  and  phrases  erroneously  (though  in  most 
cases  very  naturally)  supposed  by  Mr.  Bartlett  to  be 
peculiar  to  this  country,  appear  in  the  list  of  "Exotic 
Americanisms"  that  constitutes  the  third  chapter  of 
this  book.     It  would  be  unprofitable  to  detail  exam- 


6o  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

pies  of  the  mere  errors,  vulgar  expressions  and  slang 
terms  which  he  enumerates  as  distinctively  American. 
A  few  instances  of  his  ill-advised  repetitions,  enlarg- 
ing the  book  to  no  possible  good,  may  be  mentioned: 
"Bankit  (French  Banquette)"  is  defined  as  a  side- 
walk in  Louisiana.  Immediately  below  we  have 
"banquette,  the  name  for  the  sidewalk  in  some  of  our 
southern  cities."  "Bowie,"  and  "bowie-knife"  are 
separately  entered.  "Breakbone"  is  "a  species  of 
fever,"  and  then  follows  "breakbone  fever,"  with  full 
definition.  "Bulldoze"  is  "to  intimidate,"  and  on  the 
next  page  we  have  "to  bulldoze,  to  intimidate  by 
violent  means."  A  "filibuster"  is  a  freebooter;  "fili- 
bustering" is  "f reebooting" ;  and  "to  filibuster"  is  "to 
acquire  by  f reebooting" ;  three  separate  entries.  "A 
loafer"  is  an  idle  lounger,  and  "to  loaf"  is  "to  lounge." 
"To  lynch,"  "lyncher"  and  "lynch  law"  are  sepa- 
rately explained.  "Muss,"  a  corruption  of  "mess," 
is  first  elaborately  defined  as  a  noun,  with  examples, 
and  then  as  a  verb.  A  "pony"  is  a  translation,  and 
"  to  pony"  is  to  use  a  translation.  "To  post"  a  per- 
son is  to  inform  him,  and  then  we  are  told  that 
"posted"  means  informed.  "To  red  up,"  meaning  to 
set  in  order,  is  twice  defined — once  on  page  517  and 
again  on  page  520.  "To  run"  is  "to  cause  to  run," 
with  the  phrase  "to  run  a  church"  as  an  example; 
and  just  below  we  find  another  entry — "to  run  a 
church,"  "to  have  the  charge  of  a  church."  "To  spin 
street  yarn"  (page  636)  is  "to  go  gadding  about  the 


TEN      IMPORTANT     TREATISES  6l 

streets";  and  on  page  798,  under  the  heading  "street 
yarn,"  we  learn  that  "to  spin  street  yarn"  is  "to  fre- 
quent the  streets  without  any  definite  object."  A 
"stove  pipe"  is  a  tall  hat;  and  then  follows  a  second 
entry,  "stove  pipe  hat,  a  tall  hat."  A  "suck  in"  is 
"a  cheat,"  and  "to  suck  in"  is  "to  take  in,  to  cheat." 
Many  more  instances  might  be  mentioned;  but  it  is 
hardly  necessary  to  go  further  than  this,  in  order  to 
show  how  the  book  is  filled  up  and  expanded,  without 
rhyme  or  reason.  Mr.  Bartlett  would  have  done  bet- 
ter to  take  pattern  from  Halliwell's  admirable  diction- 
ary, a  work  that  contains  nearly  ten  times  as  many 
entries  as  the  "Dictionary  of  Americanisms,"  but  fills 
less  than  fifty  more  pages. 


VI 

Mr.  John  S.  Farmer's  work,  "Americanisms  New 
and  Old,"  is  a  "foolscap  quarto"  of  about  590  pages, 
"privately  printed"  in  what  was  intended  to  be  a  very 
ornamental  (but  is  far  from  being  a  tasteful)  style, 
elaborately  bound,  and  sold,  each  copy  signed  and 
numbered,  at  a  high  price  and  to  subscribers  only — at 
least  it  went  that  way  at  first,  and  with  the  guarantee 
that  this  would  be  the  "only  complete  edition,"  though 
I  regret  to  say  that  a  verbatim  reprint,  apparently 
from  the  original  plates,  appeared  shortly  after  on  the 
market  in  plainer  binding,  at  a  small  fraction  of  the 
price  that  the  subscribers  paid.     A  striking  feature 


62  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

of  the  book  is  the  vagueness  of  the  author's  ideas  of 
American  geography  and  history.  He  calls  this 
country  "the  future  mighty  commonwealth  of  the 
southern  seas";  counts  Maine  and  Vermont  among 
the  original  Thirteen;  names  "Virginia,  North  Caro- 
lina, South  Carolina,  Georgia" — these  four  only — as 
the  Southern  States;  and  with  similar  accuracy  in- 
forms us  that  the  "Midwestern  States"  are  "W.  Vir- 
ginia, Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Missouri,  Kansas  and 
Arkansas";  the  Northwestern  States,  Ohio,  Indiana, 
Illinois,  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  Minnesota,  Iowa  and 
Nebraska ;  the  Pacific  States,  California,  Nevada  and 
Oregon;  and  that  Pennsylvania  is  called  "the  mother 
of  presidents."  The  last  named  statement  is  founded 
on  a  quotation  from  an  American  book,  which  Mr. 
Farmer  misunderstood,  as  seems  frequently  to  have 
occurred  when  he  was  preparing  definitions.  Perhaps 
the  funniest  case  of  such  misunderstanding  is  under 
the  word  jag.  Reading  in  the  Albany  Journal  of  a 
man  who  came  in  very  late  after  an  unsuccessful 
attempt  to  unlock  the  front  door  with  his  umbrella, 
and  found  himself  next  morning,  "overcoat,  hat,  jag 
and  all,  stretched  out  in  the  bath  tub,"  Mr.  Farmer 
defines  jag  as  "a  slang  term  for  an  umbrella,  pos- 
sibly from  that  article  being  so  constantly  carried." 
Similarly,  he  explains  pink  saucer  as  "a  special  dye 
used  in  coloring  tights,"  on  the  strength  of  having 
read  in  the  New  York  World  that  an  actress  said  she 
laundered  her  own  flesh  tights,  coloring  them  with 


TEN      IMPORTANT     TREATISES  63 

what  is  called  "pink  saucer."  Then  Mr.  Farmer 
copies  some  errors  from  Bartlett,  such  as  "freezer,  a 
refrigerator,"  "handglasses,  spectacles,"  and  "hostiles, 
enemies,"  to  which  might  be  added  "Maine  law,"  of 
which  term  (as  in  the  case  of  hostiles)  Bartlett's 
definition  is  so  incomplete  as  to  be  misleading.  Of 
errors  that  appear  to  be  original  with  Mr.  Farmer 
may  be  mentioned:  Bellybender,  weak  ice;  frac- 
tional currency,  nickel  and  copper  coins;  jay,  the 
genus  dude  or  masher;  paroled,  released  or  remanded 
on  bail;  sack  coat,  a  tweed  cloth  coat;  and  sarcopha- 
gus, a  leaden  coffin.  Elsewhere  he  informs  us  that 
the  Knights  of  Pythias  constitute  an  order  of  the  same 
kind  as  the  Knights  of  Labor,  "similar  to  an  English 
trade  union";  that  "maybe  is  invariably  used  for  per- 
haps"; that  "tickets  of  admission  are  commonly  called 
permits";  that  coins  are  said  to  be  plugged  when 
counterfeited;  that  huckleberry  is  "a  kind  of  black- 
berry," and  that  "all  berries  are  called  plums  in  New 
England";  that  the  term  bulldoze  originally  referred 
to  "an  association  of  negroes  formed  to  insure,  by  vio- 
lent and  unlawful  means,  the  success  of  an  election"; 
that  spelling  bees  originated  in  the  Western  States; 
that  bank  bill  is  "the  name  by  which  Bank  of  Eng- 
land notes  are  generally  known  throughout  the 
States  ";  that  "a  cent  piece"  is  "made  of  nickel";  that 
the  word  "friends  is  employed  where  in  England  the 
word  relations  would  be  used";  that  "previous  to  1878, 
greenbacks  do\Mi  to  ten  cents  were  current,"  and  that 


64  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

"greenb ackers  were  those  who,  previous  to  the  resump- 
tion of  specie  payment  for  the  smaller  amount  just 
named,  opposed  the  change."  The  book  is  in  fact 
utterly  useless  as  a  source  of  information ;  no  reliance 
can  be  placed  on  any  statement  made  in  its  pages. 
Credit  should  nevertheless  be  given  to  Mr.  Farmer  for 
his  entire  freedom  from  the  insular  superciliousness 
that  one  might  naturally  expect  to  find  him  combin- 
ing with  his  ignorance  of  the  United  States.  He  is 
studiously  courteous  as  well  as  fair;  and  he  goes  out 
of  his  way  to  remark  that  "American  English,  taking 
the  people  all  round,  is  much  purer  than  the  vernacu- 
lar of  the  mother  country."  On  the  whole,  therefore, 
and  considering  the  fund  of  amusement  that  his  "por- 
tentous catch-guinea"  (as  the  New  York  Post  called 
the  book  on  its  appearance)  is  certain  to  afford  them, 
Americans  have  reason  to  be  grateful  to  Mr.  Farmer. 
Would  that  all  our  British  critics  possessed  the  same 
elementary  qualification  for  discussing  the  peculiari- 
ties of  the  American  language ! 

VII 

Col.  Norton's  "Political  Americanisms"  contains 
some  350  entries — among  which  it  is  a  little  surpris- 
ing to  find  boycott,  "an  adaptation  from  the  Irish 
Nationalists,  with  the  same  general  meaning."  An 
occasional  slip — such  as  the  statement  that  the  term 
half-breed  was  "originally  applied  to  certain  Repub- 


TEN      IMPORTANT     TREATISES  65 

licans  of  New- York  who  wavered  in  their  party  al- 
legiance during  a  bitter  contest  over  the  U.  S.  senator- 
ship  in  1881" — will  be  noted  by  the  critical  reader; 
but  the  work  is  on  the  whole  remarkably  well  done, 
though  it  belongs  of  course  to  rather  a  different  class 
from  that  of  the  general  treatises  on  Americanisms, 
and  hardly  calls  for  extended  review. 

VIII 

Sylva  Clapin's  "New  Dictionary  of  Americanisms" 
contains  5258  entries,  of  which  number  at  least  750 
are  certainly  expressions  of  British  origin.  Of  the 
remainder,  a  large  proportion  are  the  names  of  things 
peculiar  to  America,  or  first  introduced  to  notice  here, 
and  of  these  a  large  proportion  are  words  of  foreign 
language,  words  in  many  cases  that  no  American 
would  consider  English.  The  rest  of  the  book  is 
largely  transferred  from  Bartlett  and  Farmer,  with 
an  occasional  clipping  from  Norton;  and  not  a  few 
of  the  errors  of  these  compilers  are  adopted  by  Mr. 
Clapin  without  correction.  In  addition,  he  makes 
blunders  enough  of  his  own,  some  of  them  very  odd. 
A  mudsill,  he  tells  us,  originally  denoted  a  timber 
"laid  down  to  form  a  foundation  for  a  railway 
track";  the  New  Netherlands  is  "the  State  of  New 
York,  through  a  grateful  remembrance  of  its  obliga- 
tions to  the  Dutch";  a  pipe  dream  is  "an  intensified 
form"  of  a  slang  phrase  indicating,  "in  newspaper 


66  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

parlance,  an  assignment  which  a  reporter  knows  will 
fail";  to  place  a  person  is  to  "call  to  mind  the  place 
of  his  birth";  the  word  push  "is  in  quite  common  use 
to  characterize  the  followers  of  racing,  base-ball,  row- 
ing, athletics,  &c."  If  the  promise  of  the  prelim- 
inary circular,  that  "every  page,  before  going  to  press, 
will  pass  through  the  hands  of  trained  experts  of  the 
American  Dialect  Society"  for  criticism,  was  faith- 
fully kept,  it  would  appear  that  the  trained  experts, 
like  Jupiter,  occasionally  nodded. 

IX 

A  work  of  very  different  character,  different  indeed 
from  all  the  others,  and  the  only  one  since  Bartlett 
that  is  not  founded  on  the  labors  of  that  diligent 
compiler,  is  Thornton's  "American  Glossary,  an  At- 
tempt to  Illustrate  Certain  Americanisms  upon  His- 
torical Principles."  Emphasis  in  the  modest  sub- 
title is  to  rest,  not  on  the  word  attempt,  considering 
that  the  author  is  decidedly  successful  in  accomplish- 
ing his  purpose,  but  on  the  word  certain,  for  the  book 
is  by  no  means  intended  to  give  anything  like  a  com- 
plete list  of  Americanisms,  however  one  may  be 
pleased  to  define  that  term,  Prof.  Thornton's  plan  hav- 
ing been  to  select  expressions  "of  recognized  standing 
or  special  interest"  and  trace  their  pedigree;  "the 
reader  who  wishes  to  investigate  such  phrases  as 
Adam-and-Eve-on-a-Rajt     or     get-a-wiggle-on     will 


TEN      IMPORTANT     TREATISES  67 

have  to  pursue  his  research  elsewhere."  In  view  of 
this  limitation,  it  must  be  said  that  some  of  the  entries 
in  the  book  are  a  little  surprising,  such  for  instance 
as  the  eagle  from  Harper's  Ferry,  a  fast  horse,  fingers 
and  toes,  hanging  shelf,  Hartford  Convention,  higher 
law,  not  worth  a  row  of  pins,  Ohioan,  to  ask  no  odds, 
pipe-laying,  Wilmot  proviso  and  wooden  nutmegs. 
These  constitute,  however,  as  do  the  perhaps  450 
words  of  British  origin,  a  very  petty  fraction  of  the 
entire  number,  this  being  about  3500,  which  are  illus- 
trated by  no  fewer  than  14,000  citations,  every  one 
accurately  dated.  It  is  not  strange  that  they  are  not 
very  well  balanced,  regrettably  few  in  some  cases  and 
rather  unnecessarily  multiplied  in  others.  Perhaps 
61  is  not  too  many  under  Yankee,  considering  the  im- 
portance of  the  word  and  the  obscurity  that  surrounds 
its  history ;  but  one  must  wonder  whether  it  was  really 
worth  while  to  give  3Z  for  half -horse-half -alligator. 
The  wonder,  however,  is  that  the  compiler  got  so 
many  together;  and  he  writes  me  that  he  has  gathered 
enough  material  for  a  third  volume,  the  present  work 
consisting  of  two.  How  he  got  it  all  I  do  not  know; 
it  is  really  a  marvelous  collection  to  be  brought  to- 
gether by  a  single  author;  and  it  throws  a  flood  of 
light  on  hundreds  of  points  that  were  previously  ob- 
scure. It  reminds  one  in  a  way  of  Richardson's  Eng- 
lish dictionary,  the  first  later  than  Johnson  that  was 
not  founded  on  his  labors,  and  the  first  to  give  "a 
collection  of  usages,  and  those  usages  explained  to  suit 


68  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

the  quotations."  After  somewhat  careful  study  of 
Thornton,  I  have  discovered  only  one  single  error, 
his  defining  chunk  as  ''a  worthless  horse,"  and  this  is 
due  to  a  not  unnatural  misunderstanding  of  the  soli- 
tary case  in  which  he  noted  the  use  of  the  word.  The 
work  is  certainly  of  very  high  and  quite  unique  value. 

X 

"The  American  Language,  a  Preliminary  Inquiry 
into  the  Development  of  English  in  the  United  States," 
by  H.  L.  Mencken,  is  a  tall  octavo  of  over  380  pages, 
planned  much  after  De  Vere,  not  a  vocabulary  but  a 
work  of  history  and  review.  After  an  interesting  gen- 
eral introduction,  the  author  sketches  the  beginnings 
of  "American"  and  the  period  of  its  growth;  considers 
the  differences  between  British  and  American  English 
today  and  the  probable  tendencies  of  "American"; 
adds  some  supplementary  matter  relating  to  proper 
names  in  this  country,  and  American  proverbial  ex- 
pressions and  slang,  concluding  with  a  prophecy  that 
American  practice  is  likely  to  determine  the  final  form 
of  the  language.  A  valuable  bibliography  is  ap- 
pended. The  work  is  a  mine  of  information,  as  may 
be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  the  index  of  words  and 
phrases  noted  contains  over  5000  entries,  and  it  is 
written  (like  De  Vere's,  which  it  quite  eclipses  and 
supersedes)  in  a  readable  style  that  entertains  as  well 
as  instructs.     Aside  from  a  very  few  errors  in  fact, 


TEN      IMPORTANT      TREATISES  69 

really  the  only  fault  that  the  present  writer  finds  with 
it  is  Mr.  Mencken's  rashness  in  making  a  good  many 
general  statements  altogether  too  sweeping  and  uni- 
versal. A  few  instances  will  show:  "Lawn  jete," 
he  says,  is  "commonly  pronounced  jeef ;  "Americans 
almost  invariably  accent"  the  word  inquiry  on  the  first 
syllable;  "We  change  the  ph  (/)  sound  to  plain  p 
in  diphtheria,  diphthong  and  naphtha" ;  "Cog  still 
retains  a  pure  o,  but  one  seldom  hears  it  in  log" ; 
''Two  sons-in-law  is  never  heard — one  always  hears 
two  son-in-laws" ;  "In  common  speech,  the  word  is 
always  deef" ;  and,  most  amazing  of  all,  this  libel  on 
the  grammar  of  the  United  States:  "Such  phrases  as 
'I  see  nobody'  or  'I  know  nothing  about  it'  are  heard 
so  seldom  that  they  appear  to  be  affectations  when  en- 
countered; the  well-nigh  universal  forms  are  'I  don't 
see  nobody'  and  'I  don't  know  nothing  about  it.'  " 
Such  statements  are  likely  to  be  pounced  upon  by 
British  writers  as  complete  admissions  by  a  leading 
American  authority  (for  as  such  Mr.  Mencken  is  sure 
to  be  recognized)  of  the  distinct  inferiority  of  our 
speech  to  that  of  Great  Britain  on  points  on  which  no 
such  inferiority  really  exists  among  Americans  as  a 
whole,  the  blunders  noted  being  either  extremely  vul- 
gar or  extremely  local.  Undoubtedly  in  his  next  edi- 
tion (and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  several  editions  of  this 
great  work  will  be  called  for)  Mr.  Mencken  will  make 
a  number  of  his  statements  less  sweeping. 


CHAPTER  THREE 

EXOTIC  AMERICANISMS 

"Every  one  knows  an  Americanism  when  he  sees  it." — The 
King's  English,  Oxford,  1906,  page  25. 

"Those  whose  pleasure  it  is  to  call  America  'God's  own 
country'  tell  us  that  they  are  the  sole  inheritors  of  the  speech 
which  Chaucer  and  Shakespeare  adorned.  It  is  their  favorite 
boast  that  they  have  preserved  the  old  language  from  extinc- 
tion. They  expend  a  vast  deal  of  ingenuity  in  the  fruitless 
attempt  to  prove  that  even  their  dialect  has  its  roots  deep  down 
in  the  soil  of  classical  English.  And  when  their  proofs  are 
demanded  they  are  indeed  a  sorry  few.  A  vast  edifice  of  mis- 
taken pride  has  been  established  upon  the  insecure  basis  of 
three  words — fall,  gotten  and  bully." — Charles  Whibley, 
American  Sketches,  Edinburgh,  1908,  page  209. 

This  is  a  list  of  more  than  eleven  hundred  expres- 
sions supposed  by  Bartlett,  Farmer,  Clapin  or  Thorn- 
ton to  be  peculiar  to  this  country,  with  evidence  (gen- 
erally in  the  form  of  a  quotation  from  a  British 
writer)  that  most  of  them  are  certainly,  and  all  of 
them  probably,  of  foreign  origin.  "Evidence,"  I  say, 
prima  facie  evidence,  not  conclusive  proof,  especially 
when  the  citation  is  of  comparatively  recent  date;  the 
term  in  question  may  be  of  American  birth.  How- 
ever, the  instance  quoted  is  in  every  case  the  first 

70 


EXOTIC     AMERICANISMS  7I 

known  occurrence  in  print  of  the  word  or  phrase,  and 
it  would  seem  that  that  fact  must  be  regarded  as  set- 
tling the  matter  until  an  earlier  American  citation  can 
be  given. 

I  am  of  course  not  unmindful  of  the  contention  of 
many  English  writers  that  an  old  English  word,  or 
use  of  a  word,  becomes  an  Americanism  if  it  loses 
favor  in  Great  Britain  while  retaining  it  in  the  United 
States — a  position  stoutly  maintained  by  the  Messrs. 
Fowler,  compilers  of^he  ''Concise  Oxford  Diction- 
ary," who  insist,  in  the  first  chapter  of  their  work  on 
"The  King's  English,"  that  "guess,"  "a  favorite  ex- 
pression of  Chaucer's,  though  good  old  English,  is 
not  good  English,"  adding:  "If  we  use  the  phrase — 
parenthetically,  that  is,  like  Chaucer  and  the  Yankees 
— we  have  it,  not  from  Chaucer,  but  from  the  Yan- 
kees," and  therefore  it  is  to  be  classed  with  Ameri- 
canisms. It  of  course  follows  that  if  the  Messrs. 
Fowler  were  compiling  a  glossary  to  Chaucer,  they 
would  have  an  entry  something  like  this:  "Guess, 
Americanism  for  believe,  think,  fancy."  Similarly, 
if  it  were  a  glossary  to  Shakespeare,  there  would  be 
an  item:  "Baggage,  Americanism  for  luggage." 
And  they  must  hold  that  a  passage  from  the  fourth 
chapter  of  Matthew  ought  to  be  printed  in  the  Eng- 
lish Bible  after  this  fashion: 


23.  And  Jesus  went  about  all  Galilee,  (a) 
teaching  in  their  synagogues,  and  preaching 
{b)  the  gospel  of  the  kingdom,  (c)  and  heal- 


Mark  i,  21. 


•>  Or,  good  tidings. 
'  Mark  i,  34. 


72  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

ing  all  manner  of  (d)  sickness,  and  all  man-      ''Americanism 

°  \     /  )  for  xllness. 

ner  of  disease  among  the  people. 

24.  And  his  fame  went  throughout  all 
Syria;  and  they  brought  unto  him  all  (e)  sick 
people  that  were  taken  with  divers  diseases 
and  torments,  and  those  which  were  (/)  pos- 
sessed with  devils,  and  epileptic,  and  palsied; 
and  he  healed  them. 


*  Americanism 
for  ill. 


'  Or,  demoniacs. 


Because,  you  see,  there  is  only  one  alternative:  A 
word,  or  a  use  of  a  word,  must  either  (1)  be,  or  else 
(2)  not  be,  an  Americanism.  If  it  is  fish  in  a  Chi- 
cago newspaper,  it  cannot  be  flesh  in  a  British  book, 
especially  one  that  everybody  is  supposed  to  know. 

However,  readers  can  judge  for  themselves.  Here 
is  the  list  with  the  evidence,  "submitted,"  as  the  Dec- 
laration of  Independence  says,  "to  a  candid  world." 

The  utmost  brevity  has  been  sedulously  observed, 
but  not,  it  is  hoped,  at  the  sacrifice  of  clarity,  though 
the  numbers  that  appear  after  most  of  the  quotations 
may  need  a  word  of  explanation.  They  indicate  as 
nearly  as  possible  the  position  of  the  extract  in  the 
book  or  periodical.  Thus  "4.6.15"  may  be  volume, 
chapter  and  page;  or  act,  scene  and  line;  or  chapter, 
section  and  paragraph — the  exact  application  de- 
pending of  course  on  the  nature  and  arrangement  of 
the  work  quoted.  The  figures  in  parentheses  give  the 
year  of  publication. 

By  "Halliwell"  is  meant  the  Dictionary  of  Archaic 
and   Provincial   Words,   by   James    Orchard    Halli- 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  73 

well,  London,  1855;  by  "Davies,"  a  Glossary  Supple- 
mentary to  Halliwell,  by  T.  L.  O.  Davies,  London, 
1881;  by  "Jamieson,"  Jamieson's  Dictionary  of  the 
Scottish  Language,  Edinburgh,  1808;  by  "Elwyn," 
Elwyn's  Glossary  of  Supposed  Americanisms,  Phila- 
delphia, 1859;  by  "Grose,"  Grose's  Dictionary  of  the 
Vulgar  Tongue.  When  "Murray"  is  quoted,  the  ref- 
erence is  to  that  invaluable  storehouse  of  knowledge, 
the  badly-named  "New  English  Dictionary,"  edited 
by  Sir  J.  A.  H.  Murray  and  called  "The  Oxford  Dic- 
tionary" on  the  temporary  slip  covers  of  the  parts, 
though  the  latter  title  does  not  appear  anywhere  in 
the  completed  volumes.  It  is  only  proper  to  add  that 
by  no  means  all  the  citations  that  appear  here  and 
appear  in  Murray  were  taken  by  the  present  compiler 
from  that  great  work,  many  of  them  having  been 
noted  by  himself  during  thirty  or  forty  years  of  (more 
or  less  intermittent)  attention  to  the  matter  of  collect- 
ing them. 


According  to  Gunter. 

As  Gunter,  inventor  of  surveying  instruments, 
who  died  in  1626,  was  an  Englishman,  it  is  safe 
to  say  that  this  expression  is  of  transatlantic 
origin. 

Account.     "Of  no  account" — Of  no  value. 

"That  he  his  father  in  disdain  hath  taken  and  set  at 
no  account." — Gower,  Confessio  Amantis,  1.217   (1393). 


74  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

"Are  all  these  of  no  account?" — Fordyce  Sermons  to 
Young  Women  (1767). 

Accountability. 

"Magistrates  exposed  to  annual  accountability." — Crote, 
Greece  (1849). 

Acting — Performing  temporarily  the  duties  of. 

"Trowbridge  will  tell  you  his  opinion  of  the  present 
acting  captain  of  the  San  Josef." — Nelson,  Nicolas'  Des- 
patches, 4.287  (1801). 

Addressee. 

"Of  five  thousand  addressees,  nine  tenths  declined  to 
notice  his  letters."— Z)e  Quincey,  Works,  6.328  (1858). 

Admire — 1.  To  wonder  at. 

"I  saw  the  woman  drunken  with  the  blood  of  tlie  saints; 
and  when  I  saw  her  I  wondered  with  great  admiration." — 
Rev.  17.10  (1611). 

2.  To  like  greatly  (with  an  infinitive);  "I 
should  admire  to  go  with  you  to  Boston." 

"A  man  of  the  Comnjon wealth  period  would  readily 
understand  much  in  the  phraseology  which  now  strikes  an 
English  ear  as  peculiar  in  these  Eastern  States.  He  would 
know  what  the  genial  host  meant  when  he  told  him  that 
he  'did  admire'  to  see  him  eat." — New  Englander,  July, 
1880,  p.  430. 

"Your  rapt  eyes  would  then  admire  to  see  him  use  his 
thighs  in  strength  and  swiftness." — Chapman's  Odyssey, 
17.418  (1615). 

Adulterer — One  who  adulterates. 

"Usurers,  cheats,  coiners,  and  adulterers  of  wares." — 
Urquhart,  Rabelais,  3.295  (1650). 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  75; 

Affiliate — Fraternize. 

"The  sharpers  with  whom  I  had  been  affiliated." — 
Smollett,  GU  Bias,  1.1.71   (1761). 

Afternight — Evening. 

Said  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  Hall,  in  the  "New 
York  Ledger,"  to  be  "common  in  Ulster." 

Agee — Askew. 

"I  wore  my  hat  agee." — A.  Carlyle,  Autobiography 
(1800). 

Aim — Intend. 

"That  rest  that  the  king  aimed  to  enjoy." — Selden,  Laws 
of  England,  2.26.116  (1649). 

Airy — Conceited. 

"Airy  saints,  our  hypocrites  we  mean." — Warner,  Al- 
bion's England  (1612). 

"I  will  never  deny  myself  honest  solace  for  fear  of  airy 
censure." — Feltham,  Resolves,  1.29  (1627). 

Alarmist. 

"The  panic  of  this  alarmist  is  very  great." — Sydney 
Smith,  Works,  1.2  (1802). 

Alcoholism — ^Liquor  habit. 

"The  valuable  publication  on  chronic  alcoholism  by 
Magnus  Huss." — W.  Marcet,  Chron.  Ale.  Intox.,  Intro- 
duction (1860). 

Alienage — Condition  of  an  alien. 

"Alienage  is  a  plea  in  abatement,  now  seldom  used." — 
Tomlin's  Law  Dictionary,  "Abatement"  (1809). 

All-Fired — Extremely. 

"I  be  so  all-fired  jealous." — Tom  Brown  at  Oxford, 
40.446   (1861). 


76  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Alley — Kind  of  marble,  child's  plaything. 

"A  large  bag  of  marbles  and  alleys." — Defoe,  Duncan 
Campbell  (1720). 

Alligator — Large  amphibian  reptile,  resembling  the 
crocodile. 

"Aligartos,  which  we  call  in  English  crocodiles." — 
Purchas,  Pilgrims   (1613). 

"The  crocodiles,  now  called  Alegartos." — Raleigh,  His- 
tory of  the  World  (1614). 

Allow — Think  or  say. 

Elwyn  says  this  is  "an  old  Sussex  provincial- 
ism," and  it  is  entered  in  Parish's  Sussex  Diction- 
ary— "he  allowed  that  it  was  too  bad."  It  ap- 
pears as  an  Isle-of-Wight  peculiarity  ("I  'lows 
we'd  better  go  at  once")  in  one  of  the  "Original 
Glossaries"  published  by  the  English  Dialect  So- 
ciety in  1881.  Baret's  "Alveary"  (1580)  de- 
fines:    "Alowe,  to  declare  to  be  true." 

Allspice — A  condiment. 

"Ambergrease,  nutmegs  and  allspice." — Anatomy  of 
Melancholy  (1621). 

Almshouse. 

Defined      in      "Promptorium      Parvulorum" 
(1440). 
Along,  in  phrase  "get  along." 

This  very  phrase,   as  well  as  "go  along,"  is 
used  by  Mrs.  Guppy  in  "Bleak  House,"  chap.  64. 
Alumnus. 

The  American  use  of  this  word  as  restricted 


EXOTIC     AMERICANISMS  77 

to  a  graduate,  marks  only  a  slight  limitation  of 
the  meaning,  a  pupil,  which  was  established  in 
England  as  far  back  as  the  time  of  Evelyn,  1645. 
Amenability — State  of  being  amenable.  "Not  in 
the  English  dictionaries,"  says  Bartlett.  It  ought 
to  be. 

"The  mysterious  faculty  of  free-will  and  consequent 
personal  amenability." — Coleridge,  The  Friend  (1810). 

Ampersand  or  Andpersand — The  character  &  rep- 
resenting the  conjunction  and. 

Halliwell  says:  "The  expression  is,  or  rather 
was,  common  in  our  nursery  books.  In  Hamp- 
shire it  is  pronounced  amperzed,  and  very  often 
amperse-and.  An  early  instance  of  its  use  is 
quoted  in  Strutt's  'Sports  and  Pastimes,'  p.  399." 
Strutt  published  in  1801. 

Annunciator. 

"Annunciator,  an  officer  whose  business  it  was  to  give 
notice  of  the  feasts." — Chambers'  Cyclopedia,  Supplement 
(1753). 

Antagonize — Excite  the  antagonism  of. 

"Doing  this  work  antagonizes  certain  people." — Echo, 
Feb.  20,  1882. 

Any — At  all;  "people  speak  of  not  being  angry  any" 
— so  Farmer. 

"You  are  not  to  go  loose  any  longer." — Merry  Wives  of 
Windsor,  4.2.128  (1598). 

Appellate — Relating  to  appeals. 

"The  Earls  of  Derby  exercising  appellate  jurisdiction," 
— Blackstone,  Commentaries,  1.105    (1768). 


78  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Applecart.     To  upset  one's  applecart — to  get  into 
trouble. 

Halliwell  says  that  "down  with  his  applecart" 
is  a  provincialism  in  the  north  of  England,  mean- 
ing "knock  him  down." 

Appointable — That  may  be  appointed. 

"Rites  and  ceremonies  appointable  by  superior  powers." 
— Fox,  Acts  of  the  Church  (1562). 

Argufy — To  argue  or  to  signify. 

Halliwell  says  this  word  in  the  sense  of  argue 
occurs  in  various  dialects  of  England,  and  adds 
that  he  believes  he  has  heard  it  used  in  the  sense 
to  signify.  He  certainly  might  have  read  it,  used 
in  that  sense: 

"I've  done,"  she  muttered;  "I  was  saying 
It  did  not  argufy  my  playing. 
Some  folks  will  win,  they  cannot  choose, 
But  think  or  not  think,   some  must  lose." 

William  Shenstone  (1737-'63),  To  a  Friend. 

Asininity. 

"Ears  beyond  the  usual  dimensions  of  asininity  asinine." 
— Frazer's  Magazine,  August,  1831. 

Assign — To  sign. 

Murray  gives  a  citation  of  1563. 

At  superfluous  after  where. 

"Where  did  I  break  off  zXT'— Browning,  Clive  (1883). 

A-Tremble — Quivering. 

"My  hands  a-tremble  as  I  had  just  caught  up  my  heart 
to  write  with,  in  the  plan  of  it.'" — Aurora  Leigh,  Book  6 
(1856). 


EXOTIC     AMERICANISMS  79 

Attitudinize — To  "strike  an  attitude,"  to  pose. 

"He  called  once  to  a  gentleman  who  offended  him  in 
that  point,  'Don't  attitudinize.' " — Boswell's  Johnson, 
5.220  (1784). 

Authoress. 

Murray  traces  this  silly  word  back  in  its  pres- 
ent form  to  1718,  and  in  various  other  spellings 
to   1494. 
Avails — Proceeds  of  a  sale. 

Used  by  Bishop  Pecock,  in  "Repressor  of  Over- 
much Blaming,"  392  (1449). 

B 

Back  and  Forth. 

"He  would  go  back  and  fore  along  the  rope." — Sir  Thos. 
Urquhart,  Rabelais,  1.23   (1653). 

"Young  girls  dance  over  the  candle  back  and  forth." — 
Camden  Society,  Early  English  History   (1836). 

Back  Out. 

"Johnson  was  determined  that  Morris  should  not  back 
out  of  the  scrape." — Scott,  Rob  Roy,  b   (1818). 

Backward — Bashful. 

"The  females  were  nothing  backwarder  in  beholding." 
—Swift,  Tale  of  a  Tub  (1704). 

Bad — Much. 

"Haunted  almost  as  bad  as  Mompesson's  house." — Jos. 
Glanvill,  Sadducimus  (1681). 

Baggage — Called  now  in  Great  Britain  luggage. 

"To  get  him  baggage,  put  himself  in  press." — Political, 
Religious  and  Love  Poems  {circ.  1430). 


80  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

"Was  left  not  one,  horse,  male,  trusse,  no  baggage." — 
Chaucer,  Dream  {circ.  1450). 

"It  will  let  in  and  out  the  enemy  with  bag  and  bag- 
gage."—TFw^^r'5  Tale,  1.2  (1611). 

"Mrs.  Arnold  offered  to  send  for  my  son's  baggage." — 
Vicar  of  Wakefield,  20  (1766). 

"With  bag  and  baggage  thus  did  Dido  once  decamp." — 
Browning,  Ring  and  Book,  Bottinius  (1869). 

Bail — Handle  of  a  bucket. 

Said  in  Forby's  Glossary  to  be  provincial  in 
Norfolk,  and  in  Hallivvell  to  be  peculiar  to  the 
east  of  England.  According  to  Murray  it  meant 
originally  "a  hoop  or  ring,  a  half-hoop  for  sup- 
porting the  cover  of  a  wagon  or  cradle,"  and  dates 
back  in  this  significance,  practically  the  same  as 
the  "American"  usage,  to  1447. 

Baiting — An  informal  luncheon. 

"Beyting  of  horse,  pabulacio." — Promptorium  Parvu- 
lorum. 

"Never  themselves  refreshing,  except  the  bayting  of 
their  horses." — Sir  Thos.  More,  King  Edward  V  (1513). 

"Travellers  that  have  benighted  themselves  by  their  bait- 
ings."— Hartlih,  Commonwealth  of  Bees  (1655). 

Balk — Refuse  to  move,  as  a  horse. 

"If  he  balked,  I  knew  I  was  undone." — Defoe,  Moll 
Flanders  (1721). 

Bam — To  cheat. 

Certainly  dates  back  to  Gibber's  "Double  Gal- 
lant," 1707,  and  is  defined  in  the  5th  edition  of 
"Dyche's  Dictionary,"  1748. 


exotic    americanisms  8l 

Banana. 

Seems  to  be  West  African  word.  Used  by 
Garcia  ab  Horto,  "Plants  and  Drugs  of  India" 
(1563). 

Bang  Up — Remarkably  fine. 

"A  bang-up  theatrical  cotillion." —  Smith,  Rejected  Ad- 
dresses (1812). 

Banjo — A  musical  instrument. 

Said  to  be  an  African  corruption  of  a  word 
from  Southern  Europe.  First  known  instance  of 
its  use  is  in  "The  Negro  and  his  Banjer,"  title  of 
one  of  Charles  Dibdin's  "Sea  Songs,"  circ.  1790. 
As  "banjore,"  it  is  explained  in  Maria  Edge- 
worth's  "Belinda,"  2.18.7  (1801). 

Banquette — Sidewalk,  in  some  southern  cities. 

Simply  an  importation  from  France,  heard  only 
in  regions  once  largely  populated  by  Frenchmen. 
Does  a  European  word,  used — without  change  in 
spelling,  pronunciation  or  meaning — in  a  re- 
stricted section  of  the  United  States,  become  an 
Americanism  because  it  is  not  familiar  to  British 
ears? 

Barbecue. 

"Let's  Barbicu  this  fat  rogue." — Mrs.  Behn,  Widow 
Ranter,  2.4.356  (1690). 

Bark  a  Tree. 

"If  any  person  unlawfully  bark  any  apple  trees." — 
Aa  37  of  Henry  VIII  (1545). 


82  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Barrens — Barren  tracts  of  land. 

Merely  a  natural  and  simple  contraction.  The 
adjective  barren  has  been  applied  to  land,  in 
England  as  in  the  United  States,  for  certainly 
more  than  five  hundred  years. 

Baseball. 

The  modern  game  is  an  American  invention, 

no  doubt;    but  the  term  occurs   on  p.    238    of 
'       Moor's    "Suffolk    Words    and    Phrases,"    1823, 

where  it  is  used  in  describing  a  country  game. 

Basilar — At  the  base. 

"The  seventh  bone  is  the  bone  basylare." — Copeland, 
medical  treatise  (1541). 

Bat — To  strike. 

"Mariners,  who  with  their  spirits,  poles  and  oars  beat 
and  batt  their  carcasses." — Philemon  Holland,  Suetonius 
(1606). 

Bear — To  endeavor  to  depress  the  value  of  property. 
Murray  says  this  term,  applied  to  stock,  ap- 
peared early  in  the  18th  century,  "and  was  com- 
mon at  the  time  of  the  South  Sea  Bubble." 

Beard  of  shelfish. 

"These  threads,  termed  the  beard  of  the  mussel." — 
Goldsmith,  Natural  History,  2.4.6  (1774). 

Beau — A  lover. 

"Her  country  beaux  and  city  cousins,  lovers  no  more, 
flew  off  by  dozens." — Goldsmith,  Double  Transformation 
(1777). 


EXOTIC     AMERICANISMS  83 

Beaver  Dam — Barrier  in  stream,  erected  by  beavers. 
"The  beavers  gnaw  down  trees,  wherewith  they  make 
beaver      dams." — Philosophical       Transactions,       11.626 
(1676). 

Bedrock — Solid  rock,  underlying  looser  strata. 

"The  richest  ground  is  usually  found  in  contact  with 
bedrock." — Encyclopedia  Britannica,  10.745   (1879). 

Beef — An  ox. 

So  defined  by  Halliwell,  who  adds:  "Beefet, 
Young  Ox." 

"More  than  20,000  beasts,  swine,  beufes,  kene  and 
moutons." — Berner's  Froissart,    \st,   393.675    (1523). 

"The  pygargue,  the  wild  beef." — Douay  Bible,  Deut. 
14.5  (1609). 

Being — Because. 

Noted  by  Halliwell  as  occurring  in  "various 
dialects." 

"You  loiter  here  too  long,  being  that  you  are  to  take 
soldiers  up."— Henry  IV,  2d  Part,  2.1.199   (1597). 

Beliked — Admired. 

"Those  that  are  beloved  and  beliked  of  princes." — Sir 
Thos.  North,  Guevara  (1557). 

Belongings — Personal  possessions. 

"Jewels,  liveries  and  such  other  belongings  of  wealthy 
people." — John  Ruskin  (1857). 

Bender — A  spree. 

Said  (by  a  writer  in  Blackwood,  October,  1867, 
p.  403)  "to  have  been  originally  introduced  by 
the  Scotch."  The  word  is  defined  as  "a  hard 
drinker"  in  Jamieson. 


84  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Best — To  defeat. 

"I  cannot  stand  quiet  and  see  the  Dissenters  best  the 
establishment." — Trafford,  World  in  Church   (1863). 

Biddy — Hen. 

Occurs  in  "Twelfth  Night,"  3.4.128   (1601). 

Bilberry. 

"There  pinch  the  maids  as  blue  as  bilberry." — Merry 
Wives  of  Windsor,  5.5   (1598). 

Bile — Boil. 

The  old  Anglo-Saxon  word,  "still  used,"  says 
Halliwell,  "in  the  provincial  dialects." 
BiLiNG — "The  whole  bilin'  of  'em." 

Possibly  of  American  origin;  but  Dickens 
makes  a  London  lodging-house  keeper  use  it,  "On 
Duty  with  Inspector  Field." 

Bilk — An  especially  contemptible  cheat. 

"Johnny  Wilks,  thou  greatest  of  bilks." — Sheridaniana 
(1790). 

"The  wagoner  drove  off,  cursing  him  for  a  bilk." — 
Marry  at,  Japhet,  9  (1836). 

Billy — A  weapon. 

The  earliest  known  appearance  of  this  term  is 
in  the  London  Times  of  April  28,  1865. 

Bindweed. 

"Convolvulus  is  called  in  English  byndeweede." — 
Turner,  Names  of  Herbs  (1548). 

Blackberry. 

This  word,  exactly  as  used  by  Americans,  "has 
been  in  constant  use  in  England,"  according  to 


EXOTIC     AMERICANISMS  8^ 

Richard  Grant  White   (Galaxy,  Jan.   1,   1879), 
"from  the  days  of  King  Alfred." 

Blackleg — A  disease  of  cattle. 

"They  have  a  distemper  in  Leicestershire  which  they 
call  blacklegs." — Lisle,  Husbandry,  347  (1722). 

Blacklist — Catalog  of  discredited  persons. 

Occurs  in  a  translation,  published   1692,  of 
Milton's  Defensio  pro  Populo. 

Blacky — Negro. 

Used  by  Moore  (1815),  Thackeray  (1854), 
and  the  Athenaeum.  Seldom  if  ever  heard,  I 
think,  in  the  United  States. 

Blatancy. 

"Who  can  be  secured  from  base  carping  blatancie?" — 
Folkingham,  Art  of  Survey  (1610). 

Blotter — Book  for  temporary  notes. 

Defined  in  Craig's  Dictionary,  1849. 

Blow — To  boast  or  brag. 

"Not  blowing  everywhere  all  that  I  know." — Chaucer, 
Court  of  Love,  14th  Century. 

"He  brags  and  he  blaws  of  his  siller." — Burns,  Tom 
Glen  (1789). 

Blowout — An  ambitious  entertainment. 

"She  sent  me  a  card  for  her  blowout." — Scott,  St. 
Ronan's  Well,  2,3   (1832). 

Blue  Blood — ^High  breeding. 

"One  of  high  rank  and  birth,  of  the  blue  blood." — Miss 
Edgeworth,  Helen,  15  (1834). 


86  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Blue  Book — An  official  list  or  report. 

"The  second,  called  the  blue  book,  begins  with  the  first 
year  of  Queen  Mary." — Ashmole,  Order  of  Garter,  6.155 
(1715). 

Bluefish. 

Murray  gives  citation  from  Philosophical 
Transactions  of  1734. 

Bluff — Steep  river  bank. 

Defined  in  Latham's  "Johnson"  as  "a  high 
bank,  generally  overlooking  the  sea." 

Blur-Eyed — Blear-eyed. 

Murray  gives,  as  one  definition  of  the  verb 
blur,  "to  dim  the  sight  or  other  senses,"  with  a 
quotation  of  1620. 

Bones — Castanets. 

"Wilt  thou  hear  music?  Let  us  have  the  bones." — 
Midsummer  Night,  4.1   (1590). 

Boohoo. 

Used  by  Skelton,  1525. 

Bottom — Endurance. 

"The  savages  held  out  and  had  better  bottoms." — 
Goldsmith,  Animated  Nature,  2.106   (1774). 

Bottoms — Rich  lowlands. 

Occurs  repeatedly,  chaps.  1,  5,  7  and  27,  in 
Gaskell's  "Life  of  Charlotte  Bronte"  (1857). 
She  calls  it  a  Yorkshire  provincialism. 

Bound — Determined. 

"They  are  bound  that  they  shall  not  diminish  but  in- 


EXOTIC     AMERICANISMS  87 

crease  all  things." — Tyndale,  Prologues  to  Five  Books, 
15  th  Century. 

Bowling  Alley. 

Murray  gives  a  British  citation  of  1555. 

Brainy — Having  an  active  mind. 

Used  by  Leigh  Hunt,  "Correspondence,"  2.104, 
Letter  to  R.  Bell  (1845). 

Brickly — Brittle. 

"Brickie,"  in  the  same  significance,  occurs  twice 
in  the  original  Douay  Bible,  though  printed  "brit- 
tle" in  modern  editions. 

Brief — A  legal  paper. 

In  use  in  England,  though  at  first  in  a  sense 
slightly  different  from  ours,  since  the  13th  Cen- 
tury. 

Bright — Intelligent. 

"I  would  rather  be  in  his  company  than  that  of  the 
brightest  man  I  know." — Steele,  Tatler,  No.  208   (1710). 

Bring  Up — Stop. 

"I  was  all  at  once  brought  up  by  an  invisible  fence." — 
Blackwood's  Magazine,  8.317   (1820). 

Brown  in  phrase  "to  do  a  thing  up  brown." 

"He'll  come  out  done  so  exceedin'  brown  that  his  friends 
won't  know  him." — Pickwick  Papers,  43   (1837). 

Bruiser — Ruffian. 

"He  let  into  the  pit  great  numbers  of  bear-garden 
bruisers  to  knock  down  everybody  that  hissed." — Horace 
Walfole,  Letters  to  Mann,  2.116.6  (1744). 


88  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Brummagen — Worthless. 

Anybody  might  see  that  this  variant  of  sundry 
old  English  forms  could  not  be  an  Americanism. 

"To  hear  hardened  Brumichara  rascals  prate." — D'Ur- 
fey,  Sir  Barnaby  Whig   (1681). 

"I  coined  heroes  as  fast  as  Brumingham  groats." — Rev. 
Thos.  Browne,  chaplain  to  Charles  I  (1688). 

"That  peculiar  taste  which  is  vulgarly  called  Brum- 
magem."— Bidwer,  My  Novel,  3  (1853). 

Buck — 1.  To  butt,  as  a  goat. 

"Many  of  these  kickers  are  very  prone  to  buck  other 
cows." — Britten,  Old  Country  Words  (1750). 

2.  To  spring  suddenly  from  the  ground,  as  a 
horse. 

"That  same  bucking  puzzles  me." — Henry  Kingsley, 
Geojfrey  Hamlyn  (1859). 

Buckle — To  bend,  generally  referring  to  metal. 

"Ninepences  are  a  little  buckled,  to  distinguish  in  their 
currency." — Thorns'  Anecdotes,  54  (1525). 

Bug — Coleopterous  insect  of  any  kind. 

"God's  rare  workmanship  in  the  poorest  bug  that 
creeps." — Rogers,  Naaman  the  Syrian   (1642). 

"Blatta,  A  shorn  bug." — Ainsworth's  Latin  Dictionary 
(1783). 

"May  beetle,  also  called  May  bug." — Halliwell. 

Bugaboo — Imaginary  terror;  hobgoblin. 

"Bugibu,"  as  a  proper  name  for  such  a  creature,  oc- 
curs in  a  French  poem  of  the  12th  Century,  given  in 
Ancien  Poetes  de  la  France. 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  89 

Bully — Excellent. 

"From  such  bully  fishers  this  book  expects  no  other 
reception." — Chetham,   Angler's    Vademecum    (1681). 
"Here,  bully  mates."— ffoo^,  Lamia  (1852). 
"Lady  Dufferin,  bully  for  hex:'— Punch,  July  28,  1883. 

Bunk — Berth. 

"I  should  represent  Charles  as  falling  down  the  com- 
panion ladder,  and  pass  over  the  rest  of  his  voyage  by 
saying  that  he  was  confined  to  his  bunk." — Henry  Kings- 
ley,  Ravenshoe. 

Bureau — Chest  of  drawers. 

So  defined  in  Walker's  Dictionary,  1805. 
Burro — Donkey. 

Frequent  in  Southey,  dating  back  to  1800. 
Bust — Burst. 

Halliwell  has  an  entry,  "Busted,  burst,  west- 
ern." 

Buzz — To  talk. 

"Having  buzzed  his  venomous  suggestions  into  their 
ears." — Stubhs,  Anatomy  of  Abuses,  36   (1583). 

Buzzer — A  pickpocket. 

"To  give  them  opportunity  of  working  upon  the  prig 
and  buz,  that  is,  picking  of  pockets." — Geo.  Parker,  Life's 
Painter  (1789). 

By  and  Large. 

"They  soon  find  out  one  another's  rate  of  sailing  by  and 
large." — Eraser's  Magazine,  8.158  (1833). 


90  AMERICANENGLISH 

c 

Caboose — Conductor's  shelter  on  freight  train. 

Defined  in  Falconer's  Marine  Dictionary, 
1769,  as  a  "a  box  or  house  to  cover  the  chimney 
of  some  merchant  ships."  Our  use  of  the  word 
is  merely  an  extension  of  this. 

Cache — Hiding  place  for  valuables. 

"The  inhabitants,  having  intelligence  of  our  coming, 
hid  their  treasure  in  casshes." — Drake's  Voyages  (1595). 

Cade — A  calf,  a  pet — so  Bartlett. 

"It's  ill  bringin'  up  a  cade  lamb." — Adam  Bede, 
Chap.  10. 

Cadeau — A  gift. 

Bartlett  cites  a  single  instance  of  this  Gallicism 
from  a  New  York  daily  paper  of  1861.  It  ap- 
peared in  the  "Ingoldsby  Legends"  some  fifteen 
years  earlier. 

Calaboose — Jail. 

"(He  threatened  me)  with  the  horrors  of  the  callibouse 
if  I  disputed  his  authority." — Fra  Baily,  Journal  of  Tour, 
289  (1797). 

Calabash — Gourd. 

"He  called  for  his  calabaza  or  gourds  of  the  gold 
beads." — Raleigh,  Guiana  (1596). 

Calash — 1.  Light  carriage. 

"The  pope  taking  the  air  in  a  rich  caleche." — London 
Gazette,  104  (1666). 


EXOTIC     AMERICANISMS  Ql 

2.  Woman's  head  dress. 

"Give  no  ticket  to  any  that  wear  calashes." — Wesley's 
Works  (1791). 

Calculate — To  believe,  think,  suppose. 

"He  has  brought  you  a  Fox's  Book  of  Martyrs,  which 
I  calculate  will  go  in  the  parcel  today." — Thos.  Carlyle, 
New  Letters. 

Calloused — Hardened. 

"The  English  mind  calloused  against  its  effects." — 
Frase/s  Magazine,  10.658  (1834). 

Candidate  used  as  a  verb. 

Considering  that  any  English  noun  may  be  so 
used,  this  could  not  properly  be  called  an  Ameri- 
canism, even  though  it  were  true  that  it  first  ap- 
peared in  this  country,  which  is  not  the  case. 
Murray  gives  citation  from  "Feltham's  Resolves," 
1628,  more  than  250  years  earlier  than  the  first 
known  American  instance. 

Candidateship. 

Is  in  Perry's  Dictionary,  1775. 

Candlelighting — Early  evening. 

"She  and  I,  it  being  candlelight,  bought  meat  for  to- 
morrow."— Pepys'  Diary,  Aug.  29,  1663. 

Cantaloupe — Kind  of  melon. 

Mentioned  in  Penny  Cyclopedia,  15.86  (1839). 

Cant  Hook — ^Lever  for  canting. 

Is  in  Halliwell,  marked  "northern,"  but  de- 
fined as  meaning  a  finger.     "Cant,  to  set  up  on 


92  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

edge,"  is  in  the  same  dictionary,  marked  "east- 
ern." 
Canvass — Official  count  of  votes. 

Seems  to  be  practically  the  same  sense,  that  of 
deliberate  examination,  in  which  the  word  was 
used  by  Bishop  Hall  in  his  "Epistles,"  5.4.369 
(1608). 

Cap  in  phrase  "to  cap  all,"  to  cap  the  climax,  break 
the  record. 

According  to  a  writer  in  the  New  England 
Magazine,  October,  1888,  p.  590,  "that  caps  me" 
is  an  old  Yorkshire  expression.  "That  caps  the 
globe"  occurs  in  "Jane  Eyre,"  chap.  32, 

Car  on  a  railroad. 

There  is  really  nothing  American  in  calling 
these  vehicles  by  this  name.  The  word  is  uni- 
versally applied  in  England  to  those  of  street  rail- 
roads, though  when  the  conveyance  is  drawn 
across  the  country  by  steam,  the  British  prefer  to 
speak  of  it  as  a  carriage  or  a  coach. 

Carf — Cut  into  a  tree  or  piece  of  timber. 

Used  in  England  from  time  immemorial, 
though  in  various  spellings — cyrf  (1000),  kyrf 
(1340),  kerfe  (1393),  carffe  (1400),  carfe 
(1559);  and  defined,  with  the  present  orthog- 
raphy, by  Halliwell  and  Jamieson. 

Carman — Driver  of  a  cart. 

"Serve  in  Thames  Street  in  a  civil  war  against  the  car- 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  93 

men." — Ben    Jonson,    Every    Man   in    His    Humor,    3.2 
(1598). 

Carom  in  billiards. 

The  present  British  name,  cannon,  is  simply 

a    modern    corruption.     The    1779    edition    of 

"Hoyle's  Games"  describes  the  stroke  as  being 

"called  a  carambole,  or  for  shortness  a  carrom." 

Carry  Away — To  move  to  ecstasy. 

"This  ravished  or  carried  me  away,  whether  I  would 
or  nor— Huloet  (1570). 

Carry  On — To  frolic,  act  boisterously. 

"How  Lady  Carmine's  daughter  is  carrying  on  with 
young  Thriftless." — Whyte  Melville,  Kate  Coventry 
(1856). 

Cast — Hue;  tinge  of  color. 

"A  robe  of  a  yellowish  cd^sV— Spectator,  425.5  (1712). 

Catamount. 

"A  cat-of-mount  which  came  out  of  the  forest  of  Or- 
leans did  infinitely  endamage  the  county  of  Berry." — 
World  of  Wonders,  London,  1607,  p.  9. 

Catch — Quantity  of  fish  taken  at  once. 

"The  expense  of  fishing  must  be  paid,  after  which  the 
benefit  of  the  catch  is  supposing  to  accrue  to  the  pro- 
prietors."— Robertson,  Agriculture  of  Perth   (1799). 

Catch  a  train — Be  in  time  for  it. 

Merely  one  application  of  a  very  old  use  of  the 
verb,  Disraeli's  use  of  it  in  "Vivian  Grey" 
(1826) :  "I  was  afraid  my  note  might  not  have 
caught  you." 


94  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Catechise  as  a  noun. 

"The  articles,  creeds,  homilies,  catechise,  liturgy." — 
Gauden,  Tears  of  the  Church  (1659). 

Catfish. 

Murray  gives  British  citations  as  early  as  1620. 

Caution — "Example,  usually  in  a  ludicrous  sense" — 
so  Thornton. 

Obviously  only  a  rather  special  use  of  an  old 
English  term.  Thornton's  first  example  has  the 
sense  of  warning,  in  which  sense  the  word  is  de- 
fined in  Cockeram's  Dictionary,   1523. 

Cave — To  cave  in,  physically  or  figuratively. 

Halliwell  credits  this  expression  to  various  di- 
alects. It  occurs  in  Chap.  28  of  Kingsley's  Geof- 
frey Hamlyn,  1859. 

Certain — Certainly. 

"Else  certain  had  they  been  to  blame." — Canterbury 
Tales,  Prologue  (1386). 

Chained  Lightning. 

"Lightning,  chained  or  forked,  was  visible." — All  the 
Year  Round,  17  (1859). 

Chance — To  risk. 

"Oh,  chance  the  towels;  we  can  run  about  till  we're 
dry." — Canon  Farrar,  Eric  (1859), 

Check  for  baggage. 

The  word  has  long  been  used  in  England  as  a 
token  in  evidence  of  ownership. 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  95 

Cheese — Best  thing  of  its  kind,  as  in  phrase,  "That's 
the  cheese." 

Occurs,  according  to  the  English  Slang  Dic- 
tionary, in  the  London  Guide  of  1818. 

Chess — Weed  infesting  wheatfields. 

Murray  gives  citation  from  "W.  Ellis,  New 
Experiments,"  1836. 

Chipper — ^Lively. 

Defined  in  Dictionary  of  Isle  of  Wight  dialects; 
and  an  English  friend  tells  me  the  word  in  this 
sense  was  familiar  to  him  in  his  boyhood  in 
Leicestershire. 

Chirk — Lively. 

"This  word,"  says  the  London  Daily  News,  in  an 
article  reprinted  in  the  New  York  World  of  July  12, 
1893,  "is  used  by  Swinburne  in  'The  Masque  of  Queen 
Bersabe,  and  no  doubt  he  has  old  authority."  The  word, 
the  writer  adds,  is  "not  American  at  all,  but  English." 

Chisel — To  cheat. 

Jamieson  has  this  entry,  though  the  spelling  is 
chizzel. 

Chock  Full. 

"He  is  drunk,  top-heavy,  chock  full." — Gentleman's 
Magazine,  December,  1770. 

Choke  Off — Put  quietus  on  a  speaker. 

"The  duke's  seven  mouths  made  the  Whig  party  choak 
off  Sheridan."— Co&6e»,  Political  Register  (1818). 


96  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Choker — Cravat. 

"A  sham  frill  and  a  white  choker." — Book  of  Snobs,  1 
(1848). 

Chop — Quality,  as  in  phrase  "first  chop." 

"I  must  make  up  my  table  with  literary  men  and  sec- 
ond chop." — Buckingham,  Court  of  George  IV  (1823). 

Chore — Small  piece  of  work. 

So  defined  in  a  number  of  vocabularies  of  Brit- 
ish dialects ;  seems  to  be  very  old. 

Chucklehead — Stupid  fellow. 
Defined  by  Bailey,  1731. 

Chute — Steep  channel,  with  or  without  water. 

Mixture  of  sense  of  English  shoot  and  French 
chute.  Spelled  shoot  in  Defoe's  "Voyage  round 
the  World,"  287  (1725),  shute  in  Parsons  "Trav- 
els in  Asia,"  11.241  (1808).  Earliest  recorded 
use  of  chute  as  an  English  word  is,  however, 
American— "Evangeline,"  2.2.15  (1847). 

CiviSM — ^Love  of  country. 

"A  term  of  the  French  Revolution,"  says  Mur- 
ray. 

Clearing-House. 

The  London  institution  so-called  antedates  by 
many  years  any  in  America. 

Clevel — Grain  of  corn  or  wheat. 

"They  set  their  millstone  so  high  that  it  breaks  off 
only  the  tops  of  the  clevel." — Bradley's  Family  Diction- 
ary, s.  V.  Brewing  (1727). 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  97 

Clever — Good  natured. 

Not  in  good  use  in  the  United  States,  and  not 
an  American  perversion.  Defined  by  Hallivvell 
as  a  south-of-England  provincialism.  Occurs  in 
"She  Stoops  to  Conquer,"  1.2  (1773). 

Clevis — U-shaped  piece  of  iron,  for  various  pur- 
poses. 

"My  best  pair  of  clevis,  my  best  plow." — Lancashire 
and  Cheshire  Wills,  3.39  (1592). 

Climb  Down. 

Occurs  in  Cursor  Mundi  (1320). 

Clinker-Built. 

"A  flat-bottomed,  clinker-built  pram." — Falconer,  Ma- 
rine Dictionary   (1769). 

Cloud — A  woman's  garment. 

Farmer  appears  to  think  this  word  of  Ameri- 
can invention,  as  he  includes  it  in  his  list,  though 
remarking  that  it  is  ''as  well  known  in  England 
as  in  the  States."  It  occurs  in  an  English  novel, 
"Blotted  Out,"  1.6  (1877) ;  and  seems  to  be  prob- 
ably of  British  origin. 

Coach — Trainer;  instructor  in  athletics. 

Earliest  known  use  in  Clough's  "Bothie  of 
Tober-na-Vuolich,"  113  (1848). 

CoACHV^Hip — Kind  of  snake. 

Described  under  that  name  in  Philosophical 
Transactions,  39.256  (1736). 


98  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Cocky — Conceited. 

"I  think  I  may  be  cocky  since  fortune  has  smurtled  on 
me."— Rose,  Helenore,  150  (1768). 

Collar. 

The  phrase,  to  wear  somebody's  collar,  i.  e., 
to  take  orders  from  him,  may  possibly  have  been 
first  used  in  the  United  States,  though  it  seems 
very  improbable  that  it  was;  and  even  if  that  is 
the  case,  it  is  a  simple  and  self-explanatory  meta- 
phor rather  than  any  sort  of  an  ism.  An  Eng- 
lishman hearing  it  for  the  first  time  could  not  fail 
to  understand  it  if  he  had  ever  read  the  first 
chapter  of  "Ivanhoe." 

Collarette. 

"A  scarf  beset  with  a  great  lace,  a  colleret." — Evelyn, 
Mundus  Muliehris  (1690). 

Collateral — Security. 

The  only  Americanism  is  in  using  the  adjective 
as  a  noun.  The  expression  "colaterall  sureties" 
occurs  in  the  26th  Act  of  "Henry  VIII"  (1534). 

Comb — A  hill. 

Jamieson  defines  kaim  as  meaning  comb  and 
says  it  denotes  "the  crest  of  a  hill  or  those  pin- 
nacles which  resemble  a  cock's  comb." 

Combine — Combination. 

Ugly  newspaper  slang,  but  as  old  in  England 
as  1610,  when  the  word  was  so  used  in  Folking- 
ham's  Art  Survey. 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  QQ 

Come  Out — Make  one's  first  appearance  in  formal 
society. 

"She  has  never  been  presented  yet,  so  she  is  not  come 
out,  you  know;  but  she's  to  come  out  next  year." — Mme. 
D'Arblay,  CeciUa,  6.2  (1782). 

Come  Over — To  delude. 

"Yellowley  had  been  come  over  by  a  Scottish  earl." — 
Pirate,  4  (1822), 

Commander — A  beetle. 

So  defined  in  Baret's  "Alveary,"  1573. 

Commencement — Closing  exercises  of  college  year. 
So  used  in  England  as  long  ago  as  1387. 

Commons — Meals  taken  together  by  students. 

"The  priests  had  a  college,  a  commons,  lodging  and 
mansions  during  their  service." — Bishop  Montagu  (1641). 

Commune — Participate  in  the  Lord's  Supper. 

So  used  by  Wyclif  in  1380;  see  his  "Selected 
Works,"  3.357. 

Compare  intransitive — "This  does  not  compare  with 
that."     Murray  traces  this  locution  back  to  1450. 

CoMPROMiT — Compromise. 

"Westmoreland  and  Plompton  have  compromitted  them 
to  stand  to  the  award." — Plompton  Correspondence,  51 
(1441). 

Confectioner — Pastry  cook. 

Percival's  Spanish  Dictionary,  1591,  so  trans- 
lates the  old  Spanish  word  conficianador,  now 
confeccionador. 


lOO  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Connection  in  phrase  "in  this  connection." 

"The  same  argument  stated  in  the  same  connection." — 
HazUtt,  Political  Essays  (1807). 

CONSEQUENTIOUS. 

"The  matter  was  not  consequentious." — Sir  Thos.  Her- 
bert, Travels  (1634). 

CONSOCIATE. 

"The  band  that  doth  consociate  the  parents  toward  their 
children," — Painter,  Palace  of  Pleasure,   1.80   (1566). 

Consociation. 

"We  must  find  that  consociation  in  the  Gospel." — Bil- 
son,  Government  of  Church  (1593). 

Constitutionality. 

"Solely  on  the  ground  of   constitutionality." — Annual 
Register  (1801). 

Contemplate — To  intend. 

"Evidence  that  her  usurper  had  ever  contemplated  to 
make  her  beautiful." — Lord  Broughton,  Letters   (1816). 

Continuance — Adjournment  of  legal  proceedings. 

"John  hath  ceased  of  his  suit,  taking  continuance  of  the 
same  unto  Christians." — Paston  Letters,  5.1.21   (1425). 

Contraption. 

Said  by  Halliwell  to  be  a  West-of-England 
word. 
Contrive  followed  by  a  noun — Make,  do,  accom- 
plish, plan. 

Murray  has  citations  from  the  14th  Century. 

Cook  (an  account) — Falsify. 

"Some   falsified   accounts,   artfully  cooked   up." — Pere- 
grine Pickle  (1751). 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  101 

COOKEY. 

"  'Cookie'  in  the  ears  of  a  Scotchman  is  familiar  as  the 
name  of  a  light  tea  cake." — /.  F.  W.  Johnston  (of  the 
University  of  Durham),  North  America,  23.296    (1850). 

Copse — A  small  thicket. 

"Agrimonie  groweth  in  hedges  and  copses." — Lyte, 
Dodoens,  1.39.57  (1578). 

Corked — Tasting  of  the  cork. 

"This  wine  is  corked." — Marryat,  King's  Own,  34 
(1830). 

Count — Reckon,  suppose,  think,  intend. 

No  American  (colloquial)  use  of  this  word  is 
anything  more  than  a  slight  extension  or  varia- 
tion of  sense  in  which  it  has  been  heard  in  Great 
Britain  for  centuries. 

CouNTERjuMPER — Clerk  in  retail  store. 

"I'm  only  a  tallow-faced  counter  jumper." — Warren, 
Ten  Thousand  a  Year,  1.1.3  (1841). 

Cove — Strip  of  prairie  extending  into  woodland. 

Merely  a  special  application  of  an  old  British 
term. 

Coverlid — Coverlet. 

Used  in  England  in  various  spellings — cover- 
1yd,  couerled,  coverled,  coverlaid  and  the  like,  as 
well  as  coverlid — from  the  15th  Century. 

Cowhide — Whip. 

"He  got  his  skin  well  cowhided  by  Charles  XII." — 
Carlyle,  Miscellanies,  4.356  (1832). 


102  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Crack  and  Cracksman. 

Bartlett  defines  these  words  as  relating  to  fraud 
by  forgery  and  similar  methods,  which  I  think  a 
mistake,  believing  them  to  refer  to  direct  robbery, 
in  which  sense  they  are  at  least  as  old  in  England 
as  1725  and  1812  respectively. 

Cracker — Srnall  biscuit. 

So  defined  in  Halliwell.  Used  in  this  sense  in 
the  British  Naval  Chronicle,  24.459  (1810),  and 
by  De  Quincey  in  "Speculations"  (1847). 

Cradle  Scythe — "A  scythe  with  frame  to  lay  the 
corn  smooth  in  cutting." 
So  defined  in  Halliwell. 

Cram — To  study  hard,  especially  in  preparing  for 
examination. 

"An  uninstructed  man  when  crammed  for  an  occasion." 
— Fonblanque,  Westminster  Review,  4.394  (1825). 

Cranky — 1.  Unsteady. 

"The  boat  is  very  cranky." — And.  Wynter,  Social  Bees, 
358   (1861). 

2.  Queer,  crochetty. 

"A  cranky  old  brute  of  a  hut  keeper." — Henry  Kings- 
ley,  Geoffrey  Hamlyn,  27   (1859). 

Creeper — Shallow  iron  dish. 

"I  can  no  better  compare  you  than  with  the  brass  and 
irons,  and  us  ministers  to  the  low  creepers." — Rome  for 
Canterbury,  Harleiian  Miscellanies,  4.379    (1641). 

Crevasse — Break  in  river  bank. 

An  old  French  word  adopted  into  English  at 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  IO3 

least  as  early  as  the  time  of  Chaucer,  who  wrote 
"House  of  Fame,"  3.8.167):  "It  gave  outcreep 
at  some  crevasse." 

Crib — 1.  Structure  of  timber;  part  of  a  raft. 

Both  senses  clearly  extensions  of  the  original 
meaning  of  the  word,  a  barred  receptacle. 

2.  A  translation,  surreptitiously  used. 

"I  could  translate  it  through  the  medium  of  a  Latin 
version,  technically  called  a  crib." — Bulwer,  Pelham,  1.2.2 
(1827). 

Crisscross. 

"To  criscross  the  letter." — Keats,  Life  and  Letters, 
1.112  (1818). 

Cruel — Very. 

A  Devonshire  correspondent  of  the  London 
Times  says  this  use  of  the  word  is  very  common 
in  his  county.  The  West  Somerset  Word  Book 
gives  the  definition,  with  example:  "Cruel  good 
to  poor  volks."  Did  the  reader  ever  hear  an 
American  use  the  word  in  the  sense  of  very? 

Crush  (hat) — Soft. 

See  "Nicholas  Nickleby,"  19  (1838)  and 
"Book  of  Snobs,"  1  (1848). 

Cull — "In  New  Jersey,   to  assort,   in   speaking   of 
oysters" — so  Clapin. 

The  word  is  not  confined  to  New  Jersey,  or  to 
oysters,  but  generally  used  as  meaning  to  pick  out 
inferior  specimens  of  anything,  exactly  as  it  has 


104  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

been  used  in  England  for  five  or  six  hundred 
years. 

Cultivate — To  use  a  cultivator. 

"The  stubble  was  'cultivated'  and  sown." — Journal 
Royal  Agricultural  Society,  7.2.288   (1846). 

Cunning — ^Neat  and  pretty;  tiny. 

"A  man  of  the  Commonwealth  would  'sit  a  spell'  with 
his  hostess  and  compliment  her  baby  on  looking  'cun- 
ning.' " — Pattison,  New  Englander,  July,  1880,  p.  430. 

Curious — Excellent. 

Murray  gives  British  citations  of  the  17th  Cen- 
tury and  some  not  quite  so  certain  back  to  the 
15th.  ''Curious  old  wine,"  meaning  very  fine 
old  wine,  is  a  British  trade  expression  of  un- 
known antiquity. 

Cuss — Curse. 

Said  by  Elwyn  to  be  an  Essex  provincialism. 

Customable — Liable  to  duty;  ''dutiable." 

Occurs,  according  to  Thynne's  "Animadver- 
sions," in  an  oath  taken  by  the  Comptroller  of  the 
Customs  in  1529. 

Customer — Person. 

"Such  a  country  customer  I  did  not  meet  with  once." — 
Peter  Heylin,  Cosmo  graphic,  preface  (1652). 

CUTENESS. 

"Who  could  have  thought  so  innocent  a  face  could  cover 
so  much  cuteness?" — Goldsmith,  Goodnatured  Man,  2.1 
(1768). 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  IO5 

Cut  Up — Distressed. 

"Scrooge  was  not  so  dreadfully  cut  up  by  the  sad  event." 
— Christmas  Carol,  1   (1844). 

"Poor  fellow!  He  seems  dreadfully  cut  up." — Tom 
Brown  at  Oxford,  32  (1861). 

D 

Daddock — Body  of  a  rotten  tree. 

"How  long  would  it  be  before  you  could  make  a  piece 
of  dadocke  wood  to  flame?" — Bishop  Smith,  Sermons,  136 
(1624). 

Daddy  Longlegs — An  arachnid. 

"These  insects  are  well  known  under  the  names  of 
daddylonglegs,  &c." — Westwood,  Cuvier's  Animal  King- 
dom, 619  (1840). 

Dandified. 

"He  was  dressed  in  the  most  dandified  style." — Vivian 
Grey,  4.1   (1826). 

Darnation — Damnation. 

Is  in  Moor's  Suffolk  Glossary. 

Dead — Word   of  strong  emphasis   in  various   com- 
pounds; "I'm  dead  sure  of  it." 

"I  had  them  a  dead  bargain." — Vicar  of  Wakefield,  12 
(1766). 

Dead  Beat — Exhausted. 

"So  dead  beat  as  to  be  compelled  to  cry  for  quarter." — 
Pierce  Egan,  Tom  and  Jerry  (1821). 

Dead  Set — Resolute  purpose  or  its  result;  complete 
check. 


lo6  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

"The  Duchess  of  Drinkwater  at  a  dead  set!" — Siirr, 
Winter  in  London,  3.211   (1806). 

Deal — Transaction. 

"You  love  a  secret  desiV'—Willobie,  19  (1594). 

Demean — Humble,  debase, 

A  blunder  as  old  in  England  as  1601,  date  of 
publication  of  Abbot's  "Kingdom  of  Christ," 
which  speaks  of  the  Saviour's  being  "far  de- 
meaned beneath  all  kingly  state." 

Demonstrate — Show  one's  self. 

"The  Spanish  army  has  been  so  long  allowed  to  demon- 
strate on  the  Portuguese  frontier." — Examiner,  291 A 
(1827). 

Depot — Railroad  station. 

"When  there  are  warehouses  attached  to  a  station,  the 
whole  is  called  a  depot." — Wishaw,  Railways,  286  (1837). 

Derail — To  throw  off  the  track. 

"The  last  carriage  of  the  express  train  was  derailed." — 
Lardner,  Railroad  Economy,  327   (1850). 

Derrick — Crane. 

Described  under  that  name  in  "Rigging  and 
Seamanship,"  1.165  (1794). 

Desk — Pulpit. 

Murray  gives  British  citations  of  the  15th,  16th 
and  17th  centuries. 

Despisement — Scorn. 

"Contempt  and  despisement  of  worldly  wealth." — Hol- 
land, Plutarch's  Morals,  155   (1603). 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  IO7 

Detail — "A  marking  or  telling  off  for  any  given  pur- 
pose"— so  Farmer. 

Merely  a  broader  use  of  a  term  familiar  in 
Great  Britain  in  military  matters  since  1700  or 
earlier. 

Detrain — ^Leave,  or  cause  to  leave,  a  train. 

"The  corps  are  detrained  at  Ascot." — London  Globe, 
July  9,  1881. 

Dewberry. 

"The  fruit  is  called  a  dewberie." — Lyte,  Dodoens, 
6.4.661   (1578). 

"Feed  him  with  apricocks  and  dewberries." — Midsum- 
mer Night's  Dream,  3.1   (1590). 

Did  Not  Have. 

This  locution  is  not  included  in  either  of  the 
four  vocabularies  from  which  are  taken  the  other 
words  and  phrases  in  the  present  list;  but  is  pro- 
nounced by  the  London  Saturday  Review  "at  once 
the  ugliest  and  the  most  inexplicable  of  Ameri- 
canisms." As  to  its  being  "inexplicable,"  every 
reader  of  course  sees  that  it  is  perfectly  regular 
and  a  very  common  form  of  the  negative  pre- 
terite. As  to  its  being  ugly,  that  is  a  matter  of 
taste;  but  if  one  must  always,  to  avoid  an  ugly 
form,  say  "had  not,"  it  of  course  follows  that  one 
must  always  say  "I  went  not,"  "I  drank  not,"  "I 
gave  not,"  "I  shook  not,"  "I  fell  not,"  and  so  on 
indefinitely,  instead  of  the  usual  form — did  not 
go,  did  not  drink,  did  not  give,  did  not  shake,  did 


108  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

not  fall.  As  to  its  being  in  any  sense  an  Ameri- 
canism, I  have  grave  doubts.  Are  we  to  believe 
that  an  Englishman  would  say,  "I  could  not  give 
it,  because  I  had  it  not,"  and  that  only  an  Ameri- 
can, with  no  sense  of  the  beautiful  in  language, 
would  say,  ''I  could  not  give  it,  because  I  did  not 
have  it"? 

Difference  in  the  stock  market. 

"You'll  pay  the  difference  of  that  stock  we  transacted 
for."— i/r^.  CentUvre,  Bold  Stroke  for  Wife,  4.1   (1717). 

DiFFicuLTED — Perplexed. 

"I  would  be  difficulted  to  read  the  King  of  France  'the 
most  Christian  King.'  " — Robert  Wodrow,  Correspondence, 
1.464  (1713). 

Dig — A  blow. 

"And  divers  digs  and  many  a  ponderous  pelt." — Moore, 
Tom  Crib,  51    (1819). 

Digging — Excavation. 

"Let  us  not  project  long  designs,  crafty  plots,  and  dig- 
gings so  deep." — Jeremy  Taylor,  Holy  Dying,  1.2.3 
(1650). 

Dime. 

The  specific  use  of  this  word  for  a  coin  as  being 
the  tenth  part  of  the  unit  of  our  currency  is  of 
course  peculiar  to  this  country;  but  the  word  itself, 
meaning  one-tenth,  is  as  old  as  the  14th  Century, 
for  it  occurs  in  "Piers  Plowman." 

Dingee,  Dinky — Kind  of  boat. 

"Dingas  are  vessels  used  at  Bombay." — Rigging  and 
Seamanship,  1.242   (1794). 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  lOQ 

DiNGLiNG — Tottling,  insecure. 

"Dingle  dangle,  dangling  down." — John  Florio,  Spen- 
dolone  (1598). 

Dipper — Vessel  to  dip  with. 

"Dipper,  spoon  made  in  a  certain  form." — Mason's 
Supplement  to  Johnson's  Dictionary  (1801). 

DiPSY — Float  of  fish  line. 

Seems  to  be  corruption  of  deep  sea,  and  Bart- 
lett's  definition  quoted  above  looks  like  an  error. 
The  earliest  known  use  of  the  word  is  in  Mar- 
ryat's  "Dog  Fiend,"  43  (1837),  where  it  is  ap- 
plied to  the  sinker. 

DiSFELLOWSHiP — Exclude  from  fellowship. 

"Kneeling  at  the  Lord's  feast  is  a  carriage  of  abase- 
ment and  inferiority,  and  such  as  importeth  disfellow- 
ship  with  him." — Hieron,  Defence,  3.7   (1608). 

Disgruntled — Much  displeased. 

"Hodge  was  a  little  disgruntled  at  that  inscription." — 
Cave,  History  of  Popery,  4.79  (1682). 

Disguised — Drunk. 

Elwyn  says  this  is  found  in  Beaumont  &  Fletch- 
er's "Philaster"  (1620). 

Disremember — To  forget. 

"The  lines  of  the  author  he  feigns  to  disremember." — 
Mahoney,  Father  Prout,  373  (1836). 

DiSUNIONIST. 

First  appeared  in  Worcester's  Dictionary  of 
1846,  with  citation  from  "North,"  almost  cer- 


IIO  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

tainly    a    British    writer,    perhaps    "Christopher 
North." 

DiTE— "A  little  thing,  a  doit"— so  Bartlett. 

Merely  a  slight  mispronunciation  of  a  very  old 
word. 

DivoRT — Watershed. 

Appears  in  Murray  as  a  verb,  "to  turn  away, 
separate,"  with  citation  of  1581. 

Dog — To  hunt  with  dogs. 

"Being   overheated   in   being   dogged   to  their   confine- 
ment."— T.  Stone,  Agriculture  of  Lincolnshire,  62  (1794). 

DoLESS — Inefficient. 

"Hard  is  the  fate  o'  ony  doless  tyke  that's  forced  to 
marry  one  he  disna  like." — E.  Picken,  Poems,  148  (1788). 

DoLiTTLE — Idler. 

"What    woman   would    be    content    with    such    a    do- 
little  husband?" — Kennet,  Erasmus'  Folly,  45  (1683). 

Donation — Gift. 

"They  had   a   donation  given   unto  each   of  them." — 
Bullinger's  Decades,  960  (1577). 

Do-NoTHiNG — Idler. 

"It  is  not  for  a  do-nothing  that  this  office  is  ordained." 
— Tomson,  Calvin's  Sermons  (1579). 

Dory — Small  boat. 

Occurs  in  the  Naval  Chronicle  of  1798. 

Doted — Half  rotten. 

Traced  back  by  Murray,  as  applied  to  the  fail- 
ing intellect  of  an  old  man,  to  the  14th  Century. 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  111 

Double — Having  petals  greatly  multiplied  in  number 
by  cultivation. 

"By  often  setting  they  wax  very  double." — Lyte,  Do- 
doens,  2.10.159  (1578). 

Doughface — Person   of  no   "backbone";    a   "trim- 
mer." 

"The  doughfaced  spectres  crowded  forth." — Wolcott, 
Tears  of  St.  Margaret  (1792). 

Doughnut. 

Is  in  Halliwell,  spelled  donnut,  and  credited 
to  Hertfordshire. 

Dove — Dived. 

Murray  characterizes  this  preterite  as  "modern 
dialect,"  formed  after  the  analogy  of  drive,  drove. 

Down — A  low  condition. 

"Wit  has  her  ups  and  downs." — British  Apollo  (1710). 

Down  Upon.     "To  be  down  upon  is  to  seize  with 
avidity,"  says  Bartlett. 

"We  should  be  down  upon  the  fellow  one  of  these  dark- 
mans,  and  let  him  get  it  well." — Guy  Mannering,  28 
(1815). 

Drat  It! 

"  'Drat  that  Betty,'  says  one  of  the  washerwomen." — 
Sporting  Magazine,  46.13   (1815), 

Dreadful — Very. 

"Some  look  dreadful  gay." — Creech's  Lucretius,  52 
(1682). 


112  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Dressing — "Stuffing,  forced  meat,  gravy,"  says  Bart- 
lett. 

Murray's  definitions  of  the  word  include  "the 
seasoning  substance  used  in  cooking;  stuffing, 
&c.,"  with  quotations  as  early  as  1504. 

Drive — A  gathering  of  a  large  number  of  animals. 

"Those  taken  in  the  second  drive." — Sir  J  as.  E.  Ten- 
nent,  Ceylon  (1859). 

Driver — He  that  drives. 

"Buffoons,  stage  players  and  chariot  drivers." — Savile's 
Tacitus  (1581). 

Droger — ^Vessel  intended  for  heavy  goods. 

"If  they  are  not  employed  in  droghers,  means  shall  be 
furnished  to  depart  for  the  neutral  islands." — Annual 
Register  (1782). 

Drummer — Solicitor  of  orders  for  goods. 

"The  numbers  of  Lodge's  book  were  left  by  some  drum- 
mer of  the  trade  on  speculation." — Scott,  Sharpe's  Cor- 
respondence, 2.398  (1827). 

Drunk — A  drinking  bout. 

"Both  houses  made  preparations  for  a  general  drunk." 
— London  Times,  April  10,  1862. 

Dubersome — Doubtful. 

Halliwell  says,  under  duberoiis:    "Perhaps  the 
more  usual  form  of  the  word  is  dubersome." 
Dummy — Imaginary  holder  of  a  hand  of  cards  that 
is  played  by  the  partner. 

"She  shall  not  handle  a  card;  dummy  shall  be  sub- 
stituted in  her  place." — Swift,  Quadrille,  in  Works,  7.374 
(1736). 


EXOTIC     AMERICANISMS  1  I3 

Dumpy — Sad. 

"Dumpier  none  than  the  tobacconer;  none  sadder  than 
the  gladdest  of  their  host." — Sylvester,  Tobacco  Battered, 
643  (1618). 

Dust — "To  depart  rapidly,"  says  Bartlett.  Ware 
copies  the  entry  (in  "Passing  English"),  defining 
it  "to  walk  quickly,"  and  adding  the  comment: 
"Indirect  proof  of  the  dry  nature  of  American 
weather"!  The  word  in  this  application  is  two 
or  three  centuries  old  in  England. 

"Let  folly  dust  it  on  or  lag  behind." — H.  Vaughan, 
Silex  Scifitillans,  75   (1655). 

Dutiable — ^Liable  to  duty. 

"The  number  of  dutiable  articles." — A.  Young,  Po- 
litical Arithmetic  (1774). 

E 

Ear  Bob — Ear  drop. 

"Her  ear  bobs  of  some  considerable  jewels." — Gage, 
West  Indies  (1648). 

Edibles. 

"Birds,  fishes  and  other  edibles." — Lovell,  Hist.  Anim. 
and  Min.,  Introduction  (1661). 

Educational. 

"Is  there  not  an  everlasting  demand  for  intellect  in  the 
educational  departments?" — Sartor  Resartus,  2.11  (1831). 

Eel  Spear. 

"He  beareth  eel  spears  argent." — Guillim,  Heraldry,  235 
(1610). 


114  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Egg  On — ^To  urge. 

"Still  in  use  in  the  north  of  England,"  says 
Halliwell,  implying  that  the  expression  is  of  great 
antiquity. 

Elect  followed  by  an  infinitive. 

"She  must  elect  to  take  under  the  will  or  against  the 
will." — Lord  Chancellor  Thurlow  (1785). 

Electioneering — Solicitation  of  votes. 

"Officers  are  to  manage  their  troops  by  electioneering." 
— Burke,  French  Revolution,  315   (1790). 

Empt — To  empty. 

"Thereby  shall  he  not  win,  but  empt  his  purse." — 
Chaucer,  Chanones  Yemanne's  Tale,  22   (1386). 

Engage — Promise  to  do  something. 

"Hazarding  rather  to  consume  than  engage  themselves  to 
feminine  embracements." — Florio,  Montaigne,  493  (1603). 

Engineer — Engine  driver. 

"I  am  not  able  to  speak  of  the  engineers  in  his  majesty's 
ships." — Robinson,  Nautical  Steam,  174   (1839). 

Enjoy  Bad  Health. 

Richard  Grant  White  heard  the  custodian  of 
St.  Mary's  Hall,  Coventry,  say  that  "the  mayor 
enjoyed  very  indifferent  health";  and  quoted  (At- 
lantic Monthly,  July  1878)  from  a  London  book 
called  "English  Matrons":  "It  is  not  the  man- 
ual workers  alone  who,  as  they  say  in  Leicester- 
shire, enjoy  very  poor  health." 

Enweave — Inweave. 

"This  is  with  two  kinds  of  fibres  enwoven." — Banister, 
History  of  Man,  5.70  (1578). 


EXOTIC     AMERICANISMS  II5 

Erupt — Burst  forth. 

"Its  roots,   from  which   some  sprigs  erupt." — Tomlin- 
son,  Renou's  Disp.,  223  (1657). 

Esq. — Complimentary  addition  to  a  man's  name,  sig- 
nifying nothing. 

Used  ten  times  in  England,  especially  in  di- 
recting letters,  for  once  in  the  United  States. 

Expect — Believe,  conjecture,  with  reference  to  the 
present  or  the  past. 

The  appearance  of  this  misuse  of  the  verb  in 
Farmer's  book  is  not  remarkable,  considering  that 
that  writer  had  never  visited  America;  but  its  in- 
sertion by  Bartlett,  from  whom  Farmer  took  it, 
is  less  easy  to  explain,  for  it  needed  only  reference 
to  Elwyn  or  to  Halliwell  to  show  him  that  the 
blunder  is  distinctly  British  in  origin,  though  I 
do  not  know  whether  it  was  true  when  Bartlett 
wrote,  as  it  is  certainly  true  now,  that  you  will 
hear  it  at  least  a  hundred  times  in  England  for 
once  in  the  United  States.  I  do  not  believe  yoy 
can  find  as  many  instances  of  the  misuse  in  any 
dozen  American  books  as  occur  in  Hardy's 
"Jude."  And  I  have  happened  to  notice  it  in  the 
Cornhill  Magazine,  the  Author's  Circular  ("Offi- 
cial Organ  of  the  English  School  of  Journal- 
ism"), Gardening  Illustrated,  and  many  other 
English  periodicals.  It  would  take  a  long  time, 
I  believe,  to  find  one  single  instance  in  any 
American  paper. 


Il6  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Exposition — Exhibition. 

"The  Universal  Exposition  of  1867." — Sala,  Paris  Ex- 
hibition, 2.15  (1868). 


Fair — To  clear  up,  said  of  the  sky. 

"We  are  to  go,  if  it  fairs,  to  take  tea." — Mrs.  Carlyle, 
Letters,  1.182  (1842). 

Fair  and  Square — Honorable;  straightforward. 

"There  will  be  no  living  for  the  Portugal  unless  he  do 
that  which  is  fair  and  square." — Cromwell,  Letters,  146 
(1649). 

Fake — Swindle. 

"The  ring  is  made  out  of  brass  gilt  buttons;  it's  faked." 
— Mayhew,  London  Labor,  352   (1851). 

Fall  (a  tree) — To  felk 

Pickering  says  the  word  was  so  defined  by  Ash, 
Sheridan  and  Walker;  that  it  occurs  in  the  Eng- 
lish part  of  Ainsworth;  and  that  by  "Geo.  Ill, 
c.  18,"  it  was  enacted  that  "all  timber  growing 
upon  such  ground  is  to  be  fallen  by  such  owner 
within  one  month." 

Family — ^Wife  and  children,  or  children  only. 

"Of  sixty  persons  forming  the  household  of  the  Duke 
of  Hesse,  no  one  outside  his  own  family  has  been  at- 
tacked."— London  Spectator,  Dec.  14,  1878. 

Fandango — Lively  dance. 

"The  fandango  requires  sentiment  to  dance  it  well." — 
Mme.  D'Arblay,  Early  Diary,  1.286   (1800). 


EXOTIC     AMERICANISMS  II7 

Farina — Wheaten  grits;  fine  flour. 

"The  meal  was  called  farina." — Googe,  Heresbach's 
Husbandry,  1.29  (1577). 

Fast — Dissipated. 

"In  consultation  how  to  repair  the  defects  of  fast  liv- 
ing."— Heywood,  Female  Spectator,  2.273    (1745). 

Fay  In — Fit  in. 

Fay,  meaning  to  adapt,  is  one  of  the  very  old- 
est English  verbs,  dating,  in  the  form  fey,  from 
the  11th  Century. 

Fearful — Much,  great,  strongly. 

Halliwell  has  "fearful — tremendous;  various 
dialects."  The  Northwest  Lincolnshire  Glossary 
gives  citation:  "There's  a  fearful  lot  of  apples 
t'year." 

Federal — Founded  on  a  compact  between  independ- 
ent states. 

Term  made  familiar  in  this  country  by  the 
writers  who  appealed  to  the  public  in  the  dis- 
cussions over  the  adoption  of  our  national  con- 
stitution ;  but  it  had  already  been  in  use  for  a  long 
time  in  England,  and  it  is  defined  by  Johnson. 

Federalize — United  in  compact. 

First  known  use  of  this  word  is  as  a  transla- 
tion of  federalizer  in  Dupree's  French  Dictionary 
(1801). 

Feed — Grass  or  the  like. 

"When  as  the  one  is  wounded  with  the  bait,  the  other 


Il8  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

rotteth   with  delicious   feed." — Titus  Andronicus,   4.4.92 
(1588). 

Feel  as  in  phrase  "feel  to  do" — Feel  inclined. 

"When  he  wants  one,  he  takes  it;  when  he  does  not 
feel  to  want  one,  he  goes  without  it." — London  Society, 
October,  1866. 

Fellowship  as  a  verb. 

As  in  the  case  of  candidate,  this  locution  is 
merely  an  illustration  of  the  law  that  any  English 
noun  may  be  properly  used  as  a  verb.  The  verb 
fellowship  occurs  as  far  back  as  Chaucer's  "Boe- 
thius,"  three  times,  one  case  being  where  he  says 
that  Thought  "fellowshippeth  the  way  of  old 
Saturn." 

Fen — To  forbid  or  bar  out;  boys'  word,  used  in 
games.  (When  the  present  writer  was  a  boy,  it 
was  "fan.") 

Noted  in  Moor's  "Suffolk  Words,"  125  (1823). 

Fence  (made  of  wood). 

Clapin's  counting  this  use  of  the  word  among 
Americanisms  is  one  of  the  oddities  of  his  book. 
It  has  been  used  in  England  in  the  same  general 
way,  without  reference  to  the  material  of  which 
the  barrier  is  constructed,  as  long  as  the  word  has 
been  used  at  all.  In  Ps.  62.3,  a  "fence"  is  dis- 
tinguished from  a  "wall." 


EXOTIC     AMERICANISMS  II9 

Fence — Receiver  of  stolen  goods,  or  his  establish- 
ment. 

"You  covetous,  avaricious,  in-sa-ti-a-ble  old  fence!" — 
Oliver  Twist,  13  (1838). 

"The  keeper  of  the  fence  loves  to  set  up  in  business 
here." — Illustrated  London  News,  May  22,  1847. 

Few  in  phrase  "a  few" — A  little. 

"Having  a  few  pottage,  made  of  the  broth  of  the  same 
beef." — Lever,  Sermons  (1550). 

Fid — Plug  or  small  piece  of  tobacco. 
Defined  in  Grose, 

Filibuster. 

Merely  corruption  of  the  old  word  flibutor,  used 
in  England,  in  precisely  the  same  sense,  at  least  as 
early  as  the  16th  Century.  Seems  to  be  allied  to 
freebooter. 

Fills  (of  a  wagon) — Thills. 

"An  you  draw  backward,  we'll  put  you  i'  the  fills." — 
Troilus  and  Cressida,  3.2  (1606). 

Find  used  as  noun. 

"A  good  find  he  had." — Southey  Letters,  Aug.  30,  1825. 

FiNEFiED — D  andi  fied . 

"Her  rotten  trunk  and  rusty  fan  she  finified." — War- 
ner, Albion's  England,  2.10  (1586). 

FiPPENY,  Fip — Fivepence. 

'Thippunny,"  same  meaning,  is  included  in  a 
vocabulary  of  Lancashire  words  in  the  Gentleman's 
Magazine  for  1746. 


120  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Fire — To  throw  or  cast. 

"The  archers  firing  on  them  all  the  while." — Ockley, 
Saracens,  143   (1708). 

Fire  Out — Eject. 

"Yet  this  shall  I  ne'er  know,  but  live  in  doubt,  till  my 
bad  angel  fire  my  good  one  out." — Shakespeare,  Sonnet 
144  (1592). 

FiREDOGS — Andirons. 

Dog,  in  the  same  sense,  is  defined  in  Brockett's 
"Vocabulary  of  North  Country  Words,"  London, 
1846. 

Fire-eater. 

Occurs  in  "The  Newcomes,"  chap.  29  (1855). 
No  American  instance  of  earlier  date  is  known. 

Fire-Hook — Appliance  for  pulling  down  a  burning 
building. 

Murray  gives  quotation  of  1647. 
Fire- Wood — Wood  intended  for  fuel. 

Occurs  in  Nottingham  Record,  3.290  (1496). 

First  Class  applied  to  persons. 

"First  class  servants  who  had  fallen  into  second  class 
circumstances." — Surtees,  Ask  Mamma,  45.199  (1858). 

First  Rate. 

"A  few  first  rate  frigates." — Evelyn,  Memoirs,  2.66 
(1671). 

Fishy — Incredible. 

The  first  known  appearance  of  this  adjective 
is   in   Disraeli's   "Coningsby,"    1.9    (1844).     It 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  121 

does  not  seem  to  mean  exactly  incredible  there, 
but  something  not  widely  different,  perhaps  slip- 
pery or  questionable,  as  we  speak  of  a  man  or  a 
story  as  being  "fishy." 

Fit — Fought. 

"There  were  two  gentlemen  fit  yesterday." — Garrick, 
Miss  in  Her  Teens  (before  1768). 

Fix — Undesirable  position. 

Defined  ("a  difficulty")  in  Davies.  Occurs  in 
the  "Ingoldsby  Legends"  (1844);  in  stories  by 
Marryat  and  Black;  in  Punch  at  least  as  far  back 
as  April  9,  1864;  and  in  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette  of 
Oct.  28,  1860. 

Fix — To  put  in  order. 

"I  found  the  arms  well  fixed,  charged  and  primed." — 
Pepys'  Diary,  July  12,  1663. 

Flakes — Poles  supporting  drying  fish. 

"Flakes  whereon  men  yearly  dry  their  fish." — Whit- 
bourne,  Newfoundland,  57  (1623). 

Flapdoodle — Nonsense. 

Said  by  Halliwell  to  be  a  West-of-England 
word. 

Flare — Curve  out. 

Defined  in  Seaman's  Dictionary  (1640). 

Flashboard — Addition  to  a  milldam. 

"The  miller  has  shoots  stopped  by  flashboards." — Abra- 
ham Tucker,  Light  of  Nature,  1.32  (1768). 


122  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Flash  in  Pan — Fail. 

"Cannons  were  so  well  bred  in  his  metaphor  as  only  to 
flash  in  the  pan." — Elkanah  Settle,  Dryden,  20.  (1687). 

Flat — Complete,  unqualified. 

"The  answerer  must  use  flat  denying." — Wilson,  Logic, 
61    (1551). 

Flat  Boat. 

"Almost  every  inhabitant  hath  his  flat  boat,  wherein 
they  recreate  upon  the  lake." — F.  Brooke,  Le  Blanc's 
Travels,  209   (1660). 

Fleabane — A  plant. 

"Conyza  may  be  called  in  English  flebayne." — Turner, 
Names  of  Herbs,  30  (1548). 

Flip — Intoxicating  drink. 

"Eat  biscuit  and  drink  flip." — Congreve,  Love  for  Love, 
3.4  (1695). 

Flurry  of  snow. 

Only  a  slight  variation  of  an  expression  ap- 
plied in  England  to  wind  at  least  as  far  back  as 
1698. 

Flying  Fish. 

A  simply  descriptive  expression  that  it  seems 
rather  absurd  to  number  among  any  sort  of  isms. 
However,  it  was  first  used  in  England,  as  long 
ago  as  1511. 

Folks — People,  persons. 

Johnson's  Dictionary  defines  the  word,  "peo- 
ple, in  familiar  language,"  and  quotes  Sidney: 


EXOTIC     AMERICANISMS  I23 

"Other  folks'  misfortunes."     Precisely  the  collo- 
quial, rather  vulgar,  Americanism. 

FooTY — Foolish. 

"Many  a  critic  has  foisted  in  some  footy  emendation." 
— W.  Dodd,  Beauties  of  Shakespeare,  Preface  (1752). 

For — In  honor  of;  to  name  a  child  for  his  father. 

Murray  says  this  locution  is  "now  only  U.  S.," 
implying  that  it  was  formerly  British. 

Forehanded — In  easy  circumstances. 

"They  that  are  forehanded  are  able  to  give  time  and 
forbear  long." — Gurnall,  Christian  in  Armor,  2.576 
(1658). 

Forge  Ahead — Advance. 

A  ship  was  spoken  of  as  forging  (i.  e.,  moving) 
as  long  ago  as  1611  in  England.  First  known 
appearance  of  phrase  forge  ahead  is  in  Mar- 
ryat's  "Peter  Simple,"  35  (1833). 

FoTCH — Fetch. 

This  southern  negro  word  is  merely  an  obso- 
lete form  which  was  good  English  in  the  14th 
Century,  though  then  spelled  foche. 

Fox — Repair  a  shoe. 

So  defined  in  the  Antrim  and  Down  Glossary. 

Fox  Fire — Light  from  decaying  wood. 
Murray  gives  citation  of  1483. 

Foxy — Scheming,  deceitful. 

"An  hole  or  den  of  false  foxy  hypocrites." — Roy,  Rede 
Me,  Dedication  (1528). 


124  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Fraud — A  rascal. 

"The  begging-letter  writer  is  one  of  the  most  shameless 
frauds." — Dickens,  Reprinted  Pieces,  120   (1850). 

Freak — Odd  person  or  animal. 

"An  association  of  natural  curiosities  called  freaks,  be- 
ing an  abbreviation  of  the  term  'freaks  of  nature'  by  which 
these  monstrosities  are  described." — London  Daily  News, 
Sept.  11,  1883. 

Free  to  Con^fess. 

Bartlett's  earliest  citation  for  this  phrase,  North 
American  Review,  October,  1858,  is  antedated  17 
years  by  an  English  novel,  "Cecil,"  by  Mrs.  Gore, 
published  1841. 

Fresh — Forward;  bold. 

"When  a  fellow  is  sixteen,  he  is  very  fresh." — Kenelm 
Chillingly,  1.9  (1873). 

Fresh — A  stream. 

"A  fresh  or  brook  that  falleth  into  the  Nure." — Han- 
mer,  Ireland,  63  (1571). 

Froe — Cleaver. 

"A  frower  of  iron,  for  cleaning  of  lath." — Tusser,  Hus- 
bandry, 17.36  (1573). 

Frolic — A  party. 

"I  intend  to  wait  on  you  and  give  you  a  frolic." — J  as. 
Howell,  Letters,  6.37   (1645). 

FuGELMAN,  Fugleman — Leader. 

Used  by  the  London  Morning  Chronicle  in 
1804. 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  125 

Funeral — Funeral  sermon. 

"Mr.  Lawrence  preached  his  funerals." — Fuller,  Church 
History,  9.3.2  (1655). 

Funk — To  exhibit  fear. 

"One  or  two  of  the  Boyle  party  began  to  funk." — De 
Quincey,  Richard  Bentley. 

G 

Gabblement — Chattering. 

"The  old  gander  again  set  up  his  gabblement." — Mi- 
chael Scott,  Tom  Cringle,  18.515  (1833). 

Gallinipper — An  insect. 

"Smaller  flies,  from  the  gallinipper  to  the  moschetto." — 
Sporting  Magazine,  1.261    (1818). 

Gallus — Showy. 

"Put  it  on  your  face  so  gallus  thick  that  the  devil  him- 
self won't  see  through  it." — J  as.  Greenwood,  Seven  Curses 
of  London,  244. 

Galoot — Fellow,  chap  (with  connotation  of  con- 
tempt). 

"Four  greater  galloots  were  never  picked  up." — Marryat, 
Jacob  Faithful,  34  (1835). 

Galumph — "Go  bumping  along,"  says  Farmer,  add- 
ing that  "the  furious  driving  of  the  one-horse  cars 
in  the  streets  of  American  cities  has  become  a  no- 
torious scandal."  Verily  a  prophet  is  not  with- 
out honor  save  in  his  own  country.  Think  of  an 
Englishman's  not  knowing  that  galumph  is  a 
word  invented  by  an  English  clergyman,  the  Rev. 


126  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

C.  L.  Dodgson,  "Lewis  Carroll,"  who  uses  it  in 
the  first  chapter  of  "Alice  through  the  Looking 
Glass"!  I  do  not  believe  that  this  will  be  new 
information  to  one  single  American  who  reads  it 
here. 

Gange — Attach  a  hook  to  a  line. 

"The  line  was  ganged  with  flexible  brass  wire." — Couch, 
British  Fishes,  1.38  (1861). 

Garmenture — Clothing. 

"All  the  green  garmenture  of  summer  was  gone." — 
G.  P.  R.  James,  Henry  Masterton,  37.420  (1832). 

Garnishee — Person  holding  property  of  judgment 
debtor. 

"If  they  were  delivered  upon  other  condition,  the  gar- 
nishee is  at  no  mischief." — Sir  H.  Finch,  Law,  373  (1627). 

Garrison — Fort. 

This  is  the  older  meaning  of  the  word,  in  use 
in  England  in  the  15th  Century.  The  applica- 
tion to  the  troops  stationed  in  the  fort,  now  the 
only  meaning,  is  of  later  date. 

Gat  or  Gate — A  strait,  an  opening. 

"Three  ships  took  through  the  gat  or  opening  between 
sand  banks." — A.  Carlyle,  Autobiography,  163  (1805). 

Gather — Take  up  a  single  object. 

"A  gathered  my."— Titus  Andronicus,  3.1.114   (1588). 

Gaunted — Thin. 

Used  in  Staneyhurst  translation  of  i^neid,  2.55 
(1583). 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  127 

Gee — Fit,  suit,  agree  with. 

Defined  in  Dictionary  of  the   Canting   Crew 
(1700). 

Gent — Genteel. 

"Duck  in  his  trousers  hath  he  hent,  not  to  be  spied  of 
ladies  gent." — Pope,  Imitation  of  Chaucer. 

Gent — Gentleman. 

"My  humble  tenement  admits  all  persons  in  the  dress 
of  gent"— Byron,  Polidori,  59  (1817). 

Get — Offspring. 

"Mine  own  get  is  from  me  taken." — Brunne,  Medita- 
tions, 817   (1320). 

Girdle  (tree) — Cut  belt  around. 

"Trials  have  been  made  by  girdling  the  tree." — History 
of  Royal  Society,  1.101   (1662). 

Give  Out — Fail. 

"These    plows    give    out   too    suddenly." — Fitzherbert, 
Husbandry,  2  (1523). 

Glimpse — Get  glimpse  of. 

"Glimpsing  in  some  things  the  difference  between  Rom- 
ish and  Protestant." — Forrest,  New  Guinea,  292   (1779). 

Globe  Trotter. 

Used  in  first  chapter  of  Stevenson's  "Silverado 
Squatters"  (1883). 

Glorify — To  boast. 

So  used  in  "Ayenbite  of  Inwit,"  25  (1340). 

Go-ahead — Progressive. 

"You  would  fancy  that  the  go-ahead  party  try  to  re- 
store order." — Kingsley,  Two  Years  Ago,  14  (1857). 


128  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Go-CART — Hand  cart. 

"Bantam's  sheep  have  their  tails  trundled  along  in  a  co- 
cart."— GoZ^^mt^/i,  Bee,  2  (1759). 

Going — Traveling;  "the  going  is  bad." 

"The  going  to  the  galleries  should  have  been  by  steps." 
— Leoni,  Palladio's  Architecture,  1.94  (1715). 

Go  It — Go  at  a  task;  undertake  it. 

"The  French  went  it  for  guavas." — Arber,  English 
Garner,  7.365  (1689). 

GoLDENROD — A  plant. 

"Virga  aurea  may  be  called  in  English  goldenrod." — 
Turner,  Herbal,  3.78   (1568). 

Go  TO  Grass! 

Occurs  in  Beaumont  &  Fletcher,  "Little  French 
Lawyer,"  4.5  (1625). 
Gondola — Flat  bottomed  boat. 

Used  in  England  and  as  an  English  word  cer- 
tainly as  early  as  the  middle  of  the  16th  Century. 

Gone  With — Become  of. 

"What's  gone  with  the  pie?" — Great  Expectations,  5 
(1858).  This  is  the  earliest  citation  I  can  give,  and  the 
phrase  seems  to  have  been  used  in  the  United  States  at  a 
much  earlier  date,  but  as  it  also  occurs  in  dialect  talk  in 
old  issues  of  Punch,  and  as  it  is  very  improbable  that 
either  Dickens  or  Punch  got  it  from  America,  it  would 
seem  that  the  phrase  is  almost  certainly  of  British  origin. 

Goober — Peanut. 

Said  by  Mrs.  Walter  T.  Currie,  missionary  at 
Chisamba,  Bike,  West  Africa,  to  be  a  native  word 
of  that  region. 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  I29 

Goody — 1.  Well  disposed  but  small  minded  person. 
"This  may  be  goody  weakness  and  twaddle." — Sterling, 
Letter  of  Nov.  16,  1837,  iw  Carlyle's  Life,  2.5.144. 

2.  Middle-aged  woman  of  humble  station. 

One  need  only  remember  Goldsmith's  "Goody 
Two-Shoes"   and  Wordsworth's  "Goody  Blake" 
to  appreciate  the  fitness  of  classing  this  term  as 
an  Americanism. 
Gosh  in  ejaculation,  "By  Gosh!" 

This  elegant  form  of  oath  is  given  in  Moor's 
"Suffolk  Glossary,"  London,  1823. 

Go-to-Meeting — Very  choice,  the  best  one  has,  es- 
pecially as  applied  to  clothes. 

This  has  a  New  England  air,  but  is  defined  by 
Davies,  with  citations  from  Thomas  Hughes  and 
Charles  Kingsley. 

Go  TO  THE  Bad. 

Defined  in  Hotten's  "Dictionary  of  London 
Slang." 

Gotten. 

The  decided  preference  of  Americans  for  this 
old  (15th  Century)  and  comparatively  euphonious 
form,  which  has  been  largely  supplanted  in  Eng- 
land by  got,  is  something  to  be  thankful  for; 
many  modern  writers  in  England  concur  in  it. 

"The  triumphs  of  his  gotten  victory." — Chalmers,  Con- 
gregational Sermons,  2.54  (1820), 

"Compelled  to  disgorge  his  ill-gotten  gains." — Macau- 
lay,  England,  17.5.45  (1859). 


130  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

"On  gotten  goods  to  live  contentedly." — Gladstone, 
Horace's  Odes,  36   (1894). 

Gouging — Twisting  out  an  antagonist's  eye. 

"There  were  frequently  up-and-down  fights,  sometimes 
with  the  horrid  additions  of  pawsing  and  gouging." — 
Gaskell,  Life  of  Charlotte  Bronte,  2.26  (1857). 

Governmental — Relating  to  government. 

Murray  gives  a  British  citation  of  1744. 

Grade — Degree  or  rank. 

"Having  jumped  through  all  the  inferior  grades,  he  be- 
came colonel." — Barrett,  Miss-led  General,  32   (1808), 

Grain — Little  bit;  "I  don't  care  a  grain." 

"When  our  hearts  grow  a  grain  too  light,  God  seeth  it 
needful  to  make  us  heavy  through  temptations." — Trapp, 
Commentary,  I  Peter,  1.6  (1647). 

Grant  with  infinitive,  as  said  to  be  used  in  prayer  at 
the  South:     "Grant  to  hear  us." 

"Do  you  grant  to  hold  and  keep  the  laws?" — Sir  Nich- 
olas Bacon,  Government  of  England,  1.200  (1647). 

Grass — Asparagus. 

"Boil  some  grass  tender,  cut  it  small,  and  lay  it  over  the 
eggs." — Glasse,  Cookery,  14.234  (1747).  Context  makes 
it  clear  that  asparagus  is  meant. 

Grass  Widow — Wife  separated  from  her  husband. 

"These  ladies  are  known  as  grass  widows." — Vigne, 
Travels  in  Kashmir,  1.38. 

Gravel — Confound,  embarrass,  nonplus. 

"What  graveled  him  most  was  that  his  opponents  in- 
sisted upon  a  miracle." — Life  of  Mohammed,  in  anon- 
ymous translation  of  Koran,  London,  1718,  p.  12. 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  I3I 

Graveyard — Cemetery. 

The  first  known  use  of  this  word  is  in  an  Amer- 
ican book  pub.  1825;  but  as  it  occurs  in  Macau- 
lay's  "England,"  16.3.621  (1855),  it  is  probably 
an  old  British  term,  though  perhaps  local. 

Great  Big — Very  large. 

"In  her  bulk  bestow  a  great  big  burden." — Chapman's 
Hesiod,  2.1.405  (1618). 

Greek — Irishman. 

"Irishmen  call  themselves  Greeks." — Jon  Bee,  Diction- 
ary of  the  Turf  (1823). 

Green — Public  square,  common. 

Occurs  in  Aberdeen  Register,  1.35  (1477). 

Greening — Kind  of  apple. 

"Russetings  and  Greenings." — Evelyn,  Pomona,  4.13 
(1664). 

Greens — Vegetables . 

"Fresh  provisions,  such  as  roots,  greens  and  fowls." — 
De  Foe,  Voyage  round  World,  91   (1728). 

Grind — Hard  student. 

Earliest  known  appearance  of  this  noun  is 
American,  1896;  but  the  word  was  used  as  a  verb, 
meaning  to  work  hard,  long  before  that  time,  in 
Great  Britain. 

Grit  the  Teeth — Grind  them. 

The  verb  grit,  meaning  to  produce  a  grating 
sound,  is  used  by  Goldsmith,  "Citizen  of  the 
World,"  30  (1762), 


132  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Groceries — Commodities  sold  by  grocers. 

"A  deal  box  to  bring  home  groceries  in." — Vicar  of 
Wakefield,  12  (1766). 

Grunter — 1.  Kind  of  fish. 

"Their  creeks  are  well  stocked  with  grunters  and  drum- 
fish." — Shelvock,  Voyage  round  World,  55  (1726). 

2.  A  pig. 
"Grunter's  gig,  smoked  hog's  face." — Grose. 

Guess. 

There  is  not  a  single  sense  or  shade  of  meaning 
in  which  this  verb  is  ever  heard  in  the  United 
States  for  which  British  usage  of  hundreds  of 
years  might  not  be  cited.  The  following  quota- 
tions could  be  multiplied  indefinitely.  I  restrict 
myself  to  two  only  for  each  application  of  the 
word,  one  showing  such  application  to  be  so  old 
that  it  certainly  was  not  imported  from  this  coun- 
try, and  the  second,  of  the  19th  Century,  showing 
that  it  is  current  in  Great  Britain  down  to  our 
own  time. 

1.  To  estimate;  'T  guess  it's  a  mile." 

"Her  yellow  hair  was  braided  in  a  tress  behind  her  back, 
a  yarde  long  I  guess." — Chaucer,  Knight's  Tale,  1051 
(14th  Century). 

"The  eye  being  liable  to  be  grossly  deceived  in  guessing 
the  direction  of  a  perpendicular." — Tyndall,  Glaciers, 
2.10.277  (1860). 

2.  To  conjecture;  "I  guess  he  wrote  it." 

"You  cannot  guess  who  caused  your  father's  death." — 
Richard  Third,  2.2.19  (1597). 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  I33 

"I  little  guessed  the  end." — Mrs.  Browning,  Romaunt 
of  the  Page,  16.1   (1844). 

3.  To  judge,  believe,  suppose;  "I  guess  that's 
enough." 

"Thou  guessest  the  gift  of  God  should  be  had  for 
money r—WycUf,  Acts  VIII.21   (1382). 

"There's  somebody  gone  after  them,  I  guess." — Wuther- 
ing  Heights,  12   (1847). 

4.  To  solve  a  riddle;  "here's  a  conundrum  you 
can't  guess." 

"The  riddle  is  not  hard  to  read;  I  guess  it." — Prior, 
Beauty,  37   (1718). 

"Have  you  guessed  the  riddle?" — Alice  in  Wonderland, 
7  (1869). 

5.  To  announce  a  decision;  "I  guess  you  may 
send  me  this  hat." 

"Better  far,  I  guess,  that  we  do  make  our  entrance  sev- 
eral ways." — First  King  Henry  VI,  2.1   (1593). 

"I  guess  the  best  return  I  can  make  will  be  to  take  my- 
self o^r— Wild  jell  Hall,  32    (1848). 

6.  To  emphasize  a  statement;  "I  guess  you 
can't  make  me  do  that." 

"Why  meet  him  at  the  gates  and  redeliver  our  authori- 
ties there?  I  guess  not!" — Measure  for  Measure,  4.4.6 
(1603). 

"I  know  the  way  well  enough;  I've  been  at  the  Cleeve 
before  now,  I  guess." — Trollope,  Orley  Farm,  2.23  (1862). 

Gully  as  a  verb. 

Like  candidate  and  fellowship,  this  is  only  an 
exemplification  of  the  law,  about  as  old  as  the 


134  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

language,  that  any  English  noun  may  be  used  as 
a  verb.  It  may  be  noted  that  the  not- well-author- 
ized reversal  of  the  rule,  by  using  a  verb  for  a 
noun,  is  likewise  of  transatlantic  origin,  the  Brit- 
ish having  set  the  example  by  calling  a  meeting 
a  "meet,"  as  some  Americans  improperly  call  a 
combination  a  "combine." 

Gum — Nonsense,  humbug,  hoax. 

"There's  no  occasion  to  bowss  out  so  much  unnecessary 
gum." — Smollett,  Peregrine  Pickle,  16.1.115   (1751). 

Gummy! — An  exclamation. 

Elwyn  says  that  "gum,  a  vulgar  oath,  is  from 

Essex." 

Gump — Foolish  fellow. 

Defined  as  "numscull"  in  Supplement  to  Jamie- 
son's  English  Dictionary  (1825). 

Gumptious — Having  gumption,  old  English  word 
for  shrewdness.  The  adjective  may  have  been 
first  used  in  the  United  States. 

Gunning — Shooting  game. 

"There  is  less  danger  in  it  than  gunning." — Fletcher, 
Rule  a  Wife,  1.2  (1624). 

GuNSTiCK — Ramrod. 

"The  sulphur,  though  of  great  thickness  round  the  gun- 
stick." — Philosophical  Transactions,  44.32   (1746). 

Guttersnipe — Child  that  frequents  street  gutters. 

"Female  guttersnipes  that  gain  precarious  living  by 
hunting  for  unconsidered  trifles." — London  Echo,  Feb.  11, 
1869. 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  I35 

H 

Hackberry. 

Murray  calls  this  "a  variant  of  hagberry,"  in 
use  in  England  as  far  back  as  1597. 

Had  Have,  as  in  phrase:  "Had  we  have  known." 

Richard  Grant  White  says  this  blunder  "may 
be  heard  daily  in  any  part  of  England." 

Hake — Kind  of  fish. 

"A   fish   which  we   call  hakes." — Eden,   Decades,   273 
(1555). 

Half-baked — Silly. 

"He  must  scheme,  this  half-baked   Scotch  cake!" — St. 
Ronan's  Well,  31   (1824). 

Hammock — Hummock. 

"Right   above  that   and   into   the  land   a   round   ham- 
mock."— Hakluyt,  Voyages,  104  (1556). 

Hand — Adept;  "I'm  a  great  hand  at  dancing." 

"He  might  be  one  of  our  first  hands  in  poetry." — Cow- 
per.  Letter,  March  30,  1792. 

Handshake. 

"I  gave  him  a  hearty  handshake." — Tristram,  Moab, 
18.244  (1873). 

Hang — To  stick  fast. 

"A  noble   stroke   he  lifted  high,   which   hung   not." — 
Paradise  Lost,  6.189  (1667). 

Hang  Out — ^Make  one's  home. 

"The  traps  savey  where  we  hang  out." — Lexicon  Bala- 
tronicum  (1811). 


136  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Happen  In — Make  a  call  without  special  purpose. 

Murray  gives  "happen  in  with,  to  meet  casu- 
ally," as  Scotch  and  English  dialect. 

Happify — Make  happy. 

"This  prince  one  short  mishap  forever  happifies." — 
Sylvester,  Henry  the  Great,  642  (1612). 

Hardhead — Kind  of  iish. 

"Scorpius  major,  our  fishers  call  it  hardhead." — Sib- 
bald,  Fife,  128  (1803). 

Hard  Money — Coin. 

"Your  mother  has  a  hundred  pound  in  hard  money." — 
Farquhar,  Recruiting  Officer,  4.3  (1706). 

Hardwood — Wood  of  solid  texture. 

"Deciduous  trees,  what  is  here  called  hardwood." — 
Robertson,  Survey  of  Kincardine,  343   (1813). 

Harness  Cask — Tub  for  salt  meat. 

"Thieves,  breaking  open  a  harness  cask,  stole  about  one 
cwt.  of  beef." — Aberdeen  Journal,  Dec.  2,  1818. 

Hasty  Pudding. 

"I  can  think  of  no  fitter  name  than  hasty  pudding." — 
Buttes,  Drie  Dinner,  F.II  (1599). 

Haul — "To  convey  by  drawing." 

Thornton  has  this  entry  because,  as  he  says, 
"in  the  English  use  of  the  word,  force  or  violence 
is  included."  It  seems  to  me  that  force  is  always 
exerted  when  hauling  is  done,  whether  it  be  of 
a  load  of  stones  or  of  a  drunken  man,  and  that 
any  supposed  peculiarity  in  our  use  of  the  word, 
as  applied  to  hauling  inanimate  loads,  is  purely 
fanciful. 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  I37 

Hawhaw — To  laugh  heartily. 

Richard  Grant  White  says  (Atlantic  Monthly, 
March,  1879)  that  Englishmen  familiar  with  the 
general  speech  of  their  own  country  will  be  aston- 
ished at  seeing  this  word  in  a  compilation  of 
Americanisms. 

Hay  Tedder. 

The  word  tedder  has  been  used  in  England, 
first  for  a  man  who  makes  hay  and  afterwards  for 
the  machine,  since  the  15th  Century. 

Haze — "To  riot,  frolic" — so  Bartlett,  with  newspaper 
quotation  of  Dec.  2,  1848:  "Hazing  about  the 
street  at  night."  Tate's  Magazine,  8.592  (1841), 
seven  years  earlier  than  the  American  instance, 
has:  "It  would  be  idle  to  follow  her  in  hazing 
about — a  capital  word  that,  and  one  worthy  of 
instant  adoption — among  the  sights  of  London." 

Headstall — Knitted  worsted  cap. 

Merely  a  changed  use  of  a  word  applied  in 
England  for  centuries  to  a  part  of  a  horse's  halter. 

Heap — A  great  many;  much. 

"No  county  in  England  hath  such  a  heap  of  castles." — 
Fuller,  Worthies,  3.53  (1661). 

"This  heap  of  artificial  terms  first  entering  with  the 
French  artists." — Sir  Thos.  Browne,  Tracts,  116  (1682). 

Heave — To  throw. 

"The  pirates  heaved  me  overboard." — Robert  Greene, 
Orpharion  (1592). 


138  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Heavy  as  applied  to  sums  of  money — ^Large. 

"The  heavy  betters  began  to  quake." — Sporting  Maga- 
zine, 48.181   (1816). 

Hex — Heated. 

The  old  participle,  in  good  use  in  England  in 
the  14th,  15th  and  16th  Centuries. 

Hetchel — To  worry,  annoy. 

"Bewitted,  fleeced,  hatchelled,  bewilderedw" — Carlyle, 
Cagliostro  (1833). 

Hire — "Improperly  applied  to  renting  a  house,"  says 
Bartlett,  most  absurdly;  for  "renting  a  house," 
like  "leasing  a  house,"  may  mean  either  hiring 
it  or  letting  it.  Wyclif  (1382)  translated  Mark 
Xn.I:  "A  man  planted  a  vineyard  and  hired  it 
to  the  tilieris."  Really  it  was  the  tillers,  and  not 
the  owner,  who  hired  it. 

Hitch — Entanglement ;  impediment. 

"There  seems  to  be  some  hitch  in  Legge's  embassy." — 
Horace  Walpole,  Letters  (1748). 

Hobble — To  tie  a  horse's  legs. 

Merely  variant  of  the  old  English  hopple. 
Used  by  Dickens,  "Uncommercial  Traveller,"  11 
(1860). 

Hobo. 

"The  tramp's  name  for  himself  and  his  fellows  is 
'hobo.'  " — Contemporary  Review,  August,  1891. 

Hockey  Stick. 

Murray  gives  citation  of  1527. 


EXOTIC     AMERICANISMS  I39 

Hod  Carrier. 

Occurs  in  Smollett,  "Humphrey  Clinker" 
(1771). 

Hogbacks — "Ridges  of  upheaval." 

"A  rugged  hill,  joined  by  a  hog's  back  ridge  to  the 
mountain." — Sir  W.  Napier,  Peninsular  War  (1834). 

HOGFISH. 

"The   crocodiles   fear  to  meddle   with   the  hogfish." — 
Topsell,  Serpents,  137  (1608). 

Hog  Plum. 

"They  have  abundance  of  hogplum  trees." — Dampier, 
Voyages,  1.123  (1697). 

Homely — Ugly. 

"Who  can  tell  if  such  men  are  worth  a  groat,  when  their 
apparel  is  so  homely?" — Wilson,  Rhetoric,  164  (1553). 

Homespun. 

"One  being  clad  only  in  homespun  cloth." — Florio 
(1591). 

Hominy. 

Elwyn  found  this  word,  defined  "Indian  corn," 
"in  an  old  book  in  the  Philadelphia  Library, 
printed  in  London,  no  date." 

Hopping  Mad — In  a  violent  rage. 

"I  used  to  make  him  hopping  mad." — Chas.  Cotton, 
Burlesque  upon  Burlesque,  52  (1675). 

Horn — A  drink. 

"He  went  to  Queen's  College  and  had  a  horn  of  beer." 
— Anthony  a  Wood,  Life,  May  31,  1682. 


140  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Horn — "In  a  horn," — over  the  left. 

Defined  in  Moor's  "Suffolk  Glossary,"  London 
(1823). 

Horrors — Depression  of  mind. 

"He  is  coming  this  way,  all  in  the  horrors." — Gold- 
smith, Goodnatured  Man  (1768). 

Horse  Colt — Male  colt. 

Occurs  in  Wyclif's  "Ecclesiasticus,"  23.30 
(1382). 

Horse  Mint. 

Traced  back  by  Murray  to  the  13th  Century. 

Hose — Stockings. 

"Some  go  with  their  hose  out  at  heels." — Wilson, 
Rhetoric,  82   (1553). 

Hound — To  pursue. 

"It  is  by  hounding  nature  in  her  wanderings." — Lord 
Bacon,  Advancement  of  Learning  (1605). 

Hounds — Part  of  a  wagon. 

The  earliest  known  uses  of  this  word  are  Amer- 
ican; but  as  it  is  defined  in  the  "Sussex  Glossary" 
and  the  "Somerset  Word  Book,"  it  is  almost  cer- 
tainly an  old  English  provincialism. 

House  in  compounds  like  wash-house,  where  an  Eng- 
lishman would  say  laundry — so  Bartlett.  Sam 
Weller  says  the  young  grampus  ate  his  dinner  "in 
the  wash  'us."  According  to  Richard  Grant 
White  (and  the  present  writer's  impressions  are 
to  the  same  effect)  "such  compounds  are  much 
more  common  in  England  than  they  are  here." 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  I4I 

How? — Please  repeat. 

So  used  by  Massinger,  "Duke  of  Milan,"  3.3 
(1623)  and  "Believe  as  You  List,"  2.2  (1653). 

Huckleberry  Above  the  Persimmon. 

Merely  development  of  an  old  English  phrase 
exemplified  by  De  Quincey,  "Murder  as  a  Fine 
Art":     "It  passes  my  persimmon." 

HuGGERMUGGER — To  keep  concealed. 

"His  uncle  had  saved  money,  and  it  was  huggermug- 
gered  away." — Mary  Charlton,  Wife  and  Mistress,  4.25 
(1803). 

Hulking — Bulky. 

Defined  "unwieldy"  by  Halliwell.  Hulky,  in 
the  same  sense,  occurs  in  "Middlemarch,"  Chap. 
56. 

Hull — To  remove  hulls. 

"Pollenta  is  corn  peeled  and  hulled." — John  of  Trevisa, 
Bodleiian  MS.  (1398). 

Hulls — Husks  of  peas. 

Occurs  in  one  of  Wyclif's  sermons,  14th  Cen- 
tury. 

Human  as  noun — Human  being. 

"Mars,  plague  of  men,  smeared  with  the  blood  of  hu- 
mans."— Chapman's  Homer,  5.441   (1603). 

Humanitarian. 

"The  sect  of  the  humanitarians." — Moore's  Diary,  Jan. 
30,  1819. 


142  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Hummock,  Hommock,  Hammock — Knoll  by  the 
coast. 

"This   island   is   a  round   hummock,  containing  not   a 
league  of  ground." — Hawkins,  Voyages,  180  (1622). 

Hung,  past  participle,  for  hanged,  as  applied  to  crim- 
inals and  suicides. 

"You   suppose   he   should   have   hung   himself?" — Ben 
Jonson,  Every  Man  out  of  His  Humor,  3.2  (1599). 

Hunk — ^Large  piece. 

Defined  in  "Dictionary  of  Isle-of-Wight  Dia- 
lect." 

Hunkers — An  extinct  political  party.  This  applica- 
tion of  the  word  is  American,  no  doubt;  but  Hal- 
liwell  gives  the  word  itself  as  a  North  British  pro- 
vincialism. 

Hurricane. 

"The  dreadful  spout  which  shipmen  do  the  hurricano 
call." — Troilus  and  Cressida,  5.2.172   (1606). 

Hush  Up — Be  quiet. 

"Resolved  to  have  all  things  hushed  up." — Hayward's 
Eromena,  125   (1632). 

Hypo — Abbreviation  of  hypochondria. 

"A  treatise  of  the  hypochondriac  passion  vulgarly  called 
the  hypo." — Bernard  de  Mandeville,  title  of  work  (1711). 

I 

Ice  Cream. 

"All  such  fruits,  ice  creams,  &c.,  as  the  season  afforded," 
^London  Gazette,  2383  (1688). 


EXOTIC     AMERICANISMS  I43 

III — Vicious. 

Murray  says  this  use  of  the  word  is  obsolete 
except  in  dialects,  which  implies  that  it  is  old 
British. 

Illy  for  ill. 

A  gross  blunder,  of  course,  but  not  an  Ameri- 
can blunder.  Murray  has  a  British  citation  of 
1549. 

Immense — Very  fine. 

"Here's  cream,  damned  fine,  immense." — Gentleman's 
Magazine,  86.2  (1762). 

Improve  land  by  erecting  buildings  on  it. 

Murray  calls  this  "the  ancient  sense"  of  the 
verb,  adding  that  this  "was  retained  in  17th-18th 
c.  in  the  American  colonies,"  apparently  suppos- 
ing that  it  has  gone  out  of  use  here. 

In  for  into:     "We  get  in  the  stage." 

"And  brought  him  home  with  him  in  his  country." — 
Chaucer,  Knight's  Tale,  11   (1386). 

In  as  noun — Person  holding  a  position. 

"There  will  be  something  patched  up  between  the  ins 
and  the  outs:'— Chesterfield,  Letters,  4.379.201   (1764). 

In  Our  Midst. 

"If  we  could  have  had  Dr.  Bell  in  our  midst." — Southey, 
Life  of  Bell,  1.205  (1794). 

Indebtedness. 

"To  profess  my  deep  indebtedness  unto  you." — Rev. 
John  Trapp,  Commentary,  Epistle  Dedicatory  (1647). 


144  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Infair,  Infare — Reception  party  of  newly  married 
couple. 

"He  brought  his  wife  to  his  house  in  the  old  town, 

where   there    was    a    goodly  infare." — Spalding,    Charles 
First,  2.54  (1670). 

Institution — Any  prevalent  practice. 

"His  lordship  a  lecture  addressed  to  the  children.  This 
institution  I  greatly  admire." — Dr.  Beatty  to  Sir  Wm. 
Forbes,  Elegant  Epistles  (1784). 

Insurrect. 

"They  mean  to  insurrect  here." — Byron,  Diary,  Jan.  9, 
1821. 

Interview  as  a  verb. 

"Their  friends  exhorted  them  to  interview." — Hall's 
Chronicle,  Henry  VI,  175  (1548). 

Involvement — State  of  being  involved. 

"Orpheus,  within  the  folds  and  involvements  of  fables, 
hid  the  mysteries  of  his  doctrine." — Mythomystes,  30 
(1630). 

Irrupt — To  appear  suddenly. 

Defined  in  Hyde  Clarke's  English  Grammar 
and  Dictionary  (1858).  Merely  variant  of  the 
old  British  word  "erupt." 

Inwardness — Interest,  purpose — so  Bartlett. 

"His  fables  had  no  such  inwardness  in  his  own  mean- 
ing."— Bacon,  Advancement  of  Learning,  2.4  (1605). 

Ironweed — A  plant. 

"Ironweed,  content  to  share  the  meanest  spot  that  spring 
can  spare." — John  Clare,  Shepherd's  Calendar,  47  (1827). 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  I45 

Island — Anything  surrounded  by  flat  land,  as  if  the 
latter  were  water. 

"The  pillars  standing  in  island  as  we  say,  the  work 
could  not  securely  bear  a  roof." — /.  Jones,  Stonehenge, 
53  (17th  Century). 

Item — Information. 

"Getting    item   thereof,   he   departed." — Hearne,    Duct. 
*  Hist.,  2.14  (1704). 

J 

Jab — To  strike  or  thrust  at. 

Defined  in  Jamieson's  Dictionary  (1825)  with 
citation,  "Ettrick  Shepherd." 
Jack  at  a  Pinch — As  a  last  resort. 

Defined  by  Halliwell. 
Jackstraws. 

"Condescendingly  to  look  at  a  game  of  jackstraws." — 
Edge-worth,  Belinda,  19  (1801). 

Jam  of  logs. 

Perfectly  natural  application,  without  the  slight- 
est change  in  meaning,  of  an  old  word,  familiar 
in  Great  Britain. 
Jay — Greenhorn,   or  other  person  regarded  as  con- 
temptible. 

"The  intending  larcenist  will  strike  up  a  conversation 
with  a  likely-looking  jay." — Pall  Mall  Gazette,  Dec.  29 
1884. 

Jeans — Coarse  clothing  material. 

Merely  variant  of  the  old  English  geanes. 


146  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Jeopardize — Jeopard. 

"We  jeopardize  our  soul's  safety." — N.  Barnet,  Growth 
in  Grace,  47  (1646). 

Jew  or  Jew  Down — To  cheat,  overreach,  insistently 
beat  down  price. 

"Is  it  that  way  you  jewed  one?" — Ingoldsby  Legends 
(1845). 

Jibber — Balky  horse. 

Defined  in  Halliwell  as  occurring  in  "various 
dialects"  of  Great  Britain. 

JiGAMAREE — Trivial  thing. 

Defined  in  Halliwell,  though  he  says  it  means 
"a  manoeuvre." 

Jigger — An  insect. 

Merely  a  (possibly  American)  corruption  of 
chigoe  or  chego,  used  in  England  at  least  as  far 
back  as  1691. 

Jimmy — Burglar's  implement. 

"Jemmy,  a  crow  used  by  housebreakers." — Lexicon 
Balatronum  (1811). 

Jog — Projection  from  straight  line  or  even  surface. 

"The  beginnings  are  rude  till  the  jogs  are  rubbed  off." 
— Translation  of  Panciroli,  Rerum  Memorahilium  (1715). 

Josey — Woman's  outer  garment. 

"Joseph,"  in  the  same  sense,  is  as  old  as  1659  in  Eng- 
land. 

Jounce — To  shake. 

Defined  in  Promptorium  Parvulorum  (1440). 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  I47 

Judas  Tree.     Given  as  synonym  of  Cercis  in  Lee's 
Botany  App.  316  (1760). 

Judiciary,  noun. 

The  special  application  of  this  word  to  all 
judges  collectively  may  have  begun  in  the  United 
States,  but  the  practice  of  using  it  as  a  noun  in 
various  meanings  dates  back  in  Great  Britain  at 
least  to  the  16th  Century. 

Jug — Jail. 

"He  shall  be  kept  in  the  stone  jug  like  a  gentleman." — 
Oliver  Twist,  43  (1837). 

Jump  a  Claim — Disregard  it. 

"Claims  are  jumped  daily." — Melbourne  Argus,  March 
21,  1854. 

Junk — Miscellaneous  second-hand  stuff. 

Simply  extension  of  the  use  of  the  word  for 
old  rope,  current  in  England  for  centuries. 

K 

Keeler — Tub  for  household  purposes. 

The  "Promptorium  Parvulorum"  has  kelare  as 
translation  of  frigidarium. 

Keep — Keep  shop. 

Special  application  of  intransitive,  or  semi- 
transitive  (the  object  being  suppressed),  use  of 
the  verb  that  was  common  in  the  literature  of  the 
16th  Century. 


148  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Key — Flat,  generally  small,  island. 

"These  islands,  or  keys  as  we  call  them." — Dampier, 
Voyages,  1.22   (1697). 

Kick — Object. 

"Wherefore  kick  ye  at  my   sacrifice?" — First  Samuel, 
11.29  A.  V.  (1611). 

Kid — Child. 

"I  am  old,  you  say;  yes,  parlous  old,  kids." — Middle- 
ton  &  Massinger,  Old  Law,  3.2  (1599). 

Kind  O' — Somewhat. 

So  defined  in  Moor's  Suffolk  Dictionary,  Lon- 
don, 1823. 

Kink — Accidental  twist  in  a  rope. 

Said  by  Halliwell  to  be  a  northern  provincial- 
ism of  Great  Britain. 

Kit — Baggage. 

"The  kit  is  the  contents  of  his  knapsack." — Grose. 

Knee — Piece  of  timber  naturally  formed  in  bracket 
shape. 

Murray  has  British  citation  of  1497,  and  an- 
other, less  conclusive,  of  1352. 

Knob — Round  knoll 

"The  ground  is  said  to  rise  up  in  a  round  knob." — 
Worcester's  Apophthegms,  30   (1650). 

Knock  Down — Assign  to  bidder  at  an  auction. 

"It  was  knocked  down  to  the  last  bidder." — C.  Johnson, 
Chrysal,  3.205  (1760). 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  I49 

Knock-kneed. 

Defined    by    Davies,    with    citation    from    Sir 
Henry  Taylor,  ''St.  Clement's  Eve." 


Lagoon — Sound  or  channel. 

Used  from  time  immemorial  by  English-speak- 
ing visitors  at  Venice,  first  in  the  Italian  form, 
laguna,  1612,  then  lagune,  1697,  and  in  the  pres- 
ent spelling  at  least  as  far  back  as  Capt.  Cook's 
Journal  of  1769. 

Lambaste — To  beat. 

"Stand  off  a  while  and  see  how  I'll  lambaste  him." — 
Jones  &  Davenant,  Britannia  Triumphans,  18  (1637). 

Landscapist — Painter  of  landscapes. 

"The  professed  landscapists  of  the  Dutch  school." — 
Ruskin,  Modern  Painters,  2.1.7  (1843). 

Landshark — Dishonest  taker  of  advantage  of  pov- 
erty. 

Defined  by  Davies,  with  citation  from  Kings- 
ley's  "Two  Years  Ago." 

Lathy — Slender. 

"A  lean,  lathie  m^ny—Wood,  Life  (1672). 

Law^  Day — Court  day. 

Used  in  England,  in  the  spelling  laghdaghes, 
in  1235,  lawdayis  in  1444,  and  in  the  modern 
spelling  in  1467. 


150  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Lawing — Going  to  law. 

"I  fear  lest  there  be  found  among  you  lawing." — Tin- 
dale's  II  Cor.  XII.20  (1526). 

Leastways — At  least. 

"That  at  the  least  way  the  shadow  of  Peter." — Tindale, 
Aas  V.15. 

Likely    (men    or    animals) — Pleasing,    handsome, 
promising. 

Murray  gives  citations  of  this  use  of  the  word, 
covering  every  sense  in  which  it  is  ever  heard  in 
this  country,  from  the  15th,  16th,  17th,  18th  and 
19th  Centuries,  the  earliest  dated  1454,  the  latest 
1883. 

LiMSY — Weak,  flexible,  limp. 

Limpsy  is  defined  as  flaccid  in  Forby's  "East 
Anglia  Vocabulary"  (1825). 

Live — Quick,  active — so  Farmer. 

This  abbreviation  of  alive  has  long  been  in  use, 
in  every  American  sense,  by  British  writers. 

Loan  Office. 

"Subscriptions  for  erecting  loan  offices." — London  Ga- 
zette, 5859  (1720). 

Locate — "To  place,  to  set  in  a  particular  spot" — so 
Bartlett. 

"This  was  amongst  the  motives  that  led  me  to  locate 
myself  at  Tunbridge  Wells." — Cumberland,  Memoirs, 
2.186  (1807). 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  I5I 

Loggerhead — Long  piece  of  iron,  clubbed  at  the  end. 
Occurs  in  a  survey  of  London  published  in 
1687. 

LoGiciZE — To  reason. 

"I  can't  logicize,  but  I'll  pilfer  with  any." — Blackwood, 
38.525  (1835). 

Lucifer  Match. 

"The  plaintiff  invented  another  match,  which  he  desig- 
nated with  the  name  of  lucifer." — John  Bull,  Nov.  28, 
1831. 

Lyceum-^— Literary  association  or  the  place  where  it 
meets. 

"A  literary  establishment  has  been  opened  at  Paris  un- 
der the  title  of  the  Lyceum." — Gentleman's  Magazine, 
56.1.262  (1786). 

Lynch  Law. 

The  Pall  Mall  Gazette,  as  quoted  in  the  New 
York  Tribune  of  Jan.  27,  1881,  says  this  expres- 
sion owes  its  origin  to  a  Mayor  Lynch  of  Glas- 
gow, who  near  the  end  of  the  15th  Century  hanged 
a  murderer  with  his  own  hands. 

M 

Mad — Angry. 

So  used  in  England  as   far  back  as   Cursor 
Mundi,  1320,  not  to  speak  of  comparatively  mod- 
.  ern  writers  like  Pepys.     So  defined  in  Ash's  Dic- 
tionary, 1795. 


152  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Make-up — 1.  The  whole  as  distinguished  from  the 
several  parts. 

"Some  distinctions  in  the  make-up  of  French  and  Eng- 
hsh  minds." — Examiner,  708    (1821). 

2.  An  actor's  personal  adornments. 

"The  zouaves,  with  their  make-up  as  women." — George 
Eliot,  in  Cross  Life,  2.61   (1858). 

3.  Arrangement  of  type  in  form. 

"This  is  the  make-up  of  the  third  and  fourth  sheets  of 
the  magazine." — Smedley,  Lewis  Arundel,  15   (1852). 

Manor — "Land  occupied  by  tenants  who  pay  rent  to 
proprietor" — so  Bartlett. 

Fancy  calling  this  an  Americanism!  It  has 
been  in  continuous  use  in  England  for  cen- 
turies. 

Mansard  Roof. 

Defined  in  Builder's  Dictionary  (1734). 

Materialize. 

"Virgil  having  materialized,  if  I  may  so  call  it,  a 
scheme  of  abstracted  notions." — Addison,  Taller,  154 
(1710). 

Meadow — Land  on  which  grass  is  raised  for  hay. 

So  used  in  Great  Britain  from  time  immemorial. 
So  defined  in  the  first  English  dictionary  intended 
to  include  "the  generality  of  words,"  Bailey,  1721. 

Mean — Poor,  bad,  worthless. 

"Piers  Plowman,"  6.185  (1377),  refers  to 
"mean  ale." 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  I33 

Meeting — Religious  assembly. 

"Sept.  24,  being  Lord's  day,  he  was  going  home  from  the 
meeting." — W.  Hubbard,  Narrative,  2.51   (1677). 

Meeting-house — Place  of  worship. 

"There  was  a  concourse  of  people  at  the  Dissenters' 
meeting-house." — Evelyn,  Diary,  April  10,  1687. 

Mend  in  phrase  "on  the  mend" — Convalescent. 

So  used  by  Coleridge,  as  quoted  by  Mrs.  San- 
ford,  "T.  Poole,"  277  (1802). 

Merchandize  as  verb. 

"And  said  to  them,  'Merchandize  till  I  come.'  " — Wy- 
dif,  Luke  XIX.13  (1382). 

Merchant — Small  shopkeeper. 

"A  peddling  shopkeeper  that  sells  a  pennyworth  of 
thread  is  a  merchant." — Burt,  North  Scotland,  1.66 
(1730). 

Mess — Quantity. 

"You  have  very  good  strawberries;  I  require  you  to  let 
us  have  a  mess  of  them." — Sir  Thos.  More,  Richard  Third, 
46  (1513). 

Metheglin — A  beverage. 

"Metheglin,  which  is  most  used  in  Wales,  is  hotter  than 
mead." — Sir  Thos.  Elyot,  Castle  of  Health,  36    (1533). 

Misery — Bodily  pain. 

So  defined  in  Forby's  Vocabulary  of  East 
Anglia  (1825). 

MiSRECOLLECT — Remember  wrongly. 

"If  I  do  not  misrecollect,  I  remember  instances." — Ben^ 
tham.  Defense  of  Usury,  6.49  (1787). 


154  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

MiSREMEMBER — Forget. 

"Misremembering  one  word." — Sir  Thos.  More,  Answer 
to  Poisoned  Book  (1533). 

Mistake  in  phrase,  "and  no  mistake" — Undoubtedly. 
"He  is  the  real  thing  and  no  mistake." — Lady  Sydney 
Morgan,  Autobiography,  15  (1818). 

MOBOCRACY. 

"Another  mode  of  civil  policy,  which  cannot  be  called 
by  a  better  name  than  mobocracy." — Murphy,  Gray's  Inn 
Journal,  95   (1754). 

Molasses — Treacle. 

British  writers  have  melasus  (1582),  molassos 
(1588),  malassos  (1599),  molossos  (1663),  me- 
lasses  (1731),  and  the  present  spelling  as  early 
as  1764. 

Moonrise. 

"A  luminous  arch  which  extended  itself  almost  from 
sunset  to  moonrise." — Philosophical  Transactions,  35.454 
(1728). 

Moonshine  (liquor) — Surreptitiously  made  without 
paying  tax,  or  imported  without  paying  duty. 
Defined  by  Grose. 

MoRPHODiTE — Hermaphrodite. 

"She  was  little  better  than  a  morphodite." — Vanbrugh, 
Provoked  Wife,  4.3  (1706). 

Mortal — Very. 

"The  peril  is  so  mortal  strong." — John  Lydgate,  Rea- 
son and  Sense,  3665  (1407), 


EXOTIC     AMERICANISMS  I55 

Most — Vulgar  contraction  of  almost. 

"Her  forehead  was  most  covered  with  her  hat." — Lady 
Wroth,  Urania,  541  (1621). 

MouRNSOME — Mournful. 

"A  noise  very  loud  and  mournsorae." — Lorna  Doone, 
3   (1869). 

Move — Change  one's  residence. 

"He  was  afterwards  the  occasion  of  his  leaving  college 
and  moving  towards  London." — Bishop  Patrick,  Auto- 
biography, 244  (1707). 

Muddle — Confusion. 

Defined  as  "a  confused  or  turbid  state"  in 
Todd's  Dictionary  (1818). 

Mudsill — Foundation  timber  laid  on  or  in  the  earth. 
A  manuscript  estimate  of  repairs  for  a  bridge 
in  Essex,  England,   1741,  includes  an  item  for 
"mudsells  19  foot  long." 

Mulatto. 

Earliest  known  use  of  this  word  (which  seems 
to  have  been  adapted,  by  European  explorers, 
from  the  Spanish  mulato,  young  mule,  hence  one 
of  mixed  race)  is  in  Drake's  "Voyages,"  1595. 

MuMBLEPEG — Child's  game. 

"Nor  scourge-top,  nor  trusse,  nor  leap-frog,  nor  nine- 
holes,  nor  mumble-the-peg." — Hawkins,  Apollo  Shroving, 
Prologue,  5   (1627). 

MUSKMELON. 

Correction  of  Tusser's  muskmillion,  "Hus- 
bandry," 94  (1573). 


156  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Muss — Squabble. 

Said  to  be  old  British  by  a  writer  in  the  Nation, 
5.428,  Nov.  28,  1867. 

Mux — Mess, 

"My  mother  and  Snowe  had  rauxed  up  everything." — 
Lorna  Doone,  62.  (Earlier  American  citations  can  be 
given,  of  course;  but  Blackmore's  use  of  the  word  seems 
to  estabhsh  it  as  an  old  Devonshire  provincialism.) 

N 
Nabber — Thief. 

So  defined  in  Jamieson. 

Nankeen. 

"Make  his  trousers  of  nankeen." — Percy  Society,  Songs 
on  Costume,  239  (1755). 

National — Relating  to  the  nation  at  large. 

"The  civil  and  national  laws  of  any  country." — How- 
son,  Sermons,  Dec.  24,  1597. 

Neck — Peninsula . 

"Upon  the  innermost  neck  to  the  landward." — Eden, 
Decade  of  Voyages,  352  (1555). 

Ne'er — No;  not. 

"There's  ne'er  a  gentleman  in  the  county  has  the  like 
humors." — Jonson,  Every  Man  out  of  His  Humor,  2.1 
(1599). 

Negative — To  veto. 

"Having  obtained  the  outlines  of  a  treaty,  negativing  it 
would  not  carry." — Earl  Malmesbury,  Diaries,  1.194 
(1778). 


EXOTIC     AMERICANISMS  I57 

Never  Say  Die — Do  not  despair. 

Used  by  Nancy  Sikes,  "Oliver  Twist,"  Chap. 
26. 

Newsy — Full  of  news. 

"Mille  graces  for  a  newsy  letter." — Jekyll,  Correspond- 
ence, 9.304  (1832). 

Nice — Fair,  good,  agreeable. 

"I  intend  to  take  a  nice  walk." — Miss  Carter,  Letters, 
2.34  (1769). 

"The  nice  letter  which  I  have  received  from  you." — 
Jane  Austen,  Letters,  1.126  (1796). 

"Whom  my  aunt  asserted  to  be  a  very  nice  woman." — 
Anne  Bronte,  Agnes  Grey,  1   (1847). 

Nigger — Negro. 

"How  graceless  Ham  laughed  at  his  dad,  which  made 
Canaan  a  nigger." — Robert  Burns,  Ordination,  4  (1786). 
Word  used  repeatedly  by  Carlyle  and  Thack- 
eray, and  at  least  once  by  Ruskin,  "Laws  of  Fe- 
sole,"  Chap.  6.  You  will  hardly  find  it  in  any 
American  writer  of  any  such  standing  as  either 
of  these  great  Britons. 

Nip — A  drink. 

Defined  by  Grose. 

Nipper — A  drink. 

Contraction  of  nipperkin,  which  is  at  least  as 
old  in  Great  Britain  as  Mrs.  Behan's  "Amorous 
Prince,"  1671. 


158  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Nipping — ^Mincing. 

"So  nipping,  so  tripping,  so  cocking,  so  crowing." — 
Jacob  and  Esau,  2.2   (1578). 

Nobby — Stylish. 

"The  herds  of  mony  a  knabby  laird,  war's  training  for 
the  shambles."— Pic/jew,  Poems,  178  (1788). 

"I'll  meet  your  wishes  respecting  this  matter  and  the 
nobbiest  way  of  keeping  it  quiet." — Bleak  House,  54 
(1852). 

Noggin — A  drink. 

"Every  one  that  treats  him  with  a  noggin  of  cool 
nants." — Humors  of  the  Town,  101  (1693). 

Nohow — By  no  means,  generally  used  ungrammat- 
ically, to  strengthen  previous  negative. 

"You  don't  call  that  justice  nohow." — Douglas  Jerrold, 
St.  Giles,  10.98  (1851). 

Noodles — Preparation  of  vermicelli. 

"Noodle  soup,  made  with  veal  with  lumps  of  bread." — 
Lady  Mary  Coke,  Journal,  3.243  (1779). 

Nooning — 1.  Noontide,  hour  beginning  at  noon. 

Occurs  in  "Towneley  Mysteries,"  24.65  (1460). 

2.  Midday  luncheon. 
"Seven  constant  ordinaries  every  night,  noonings   and 
intermealiary     lunchings." — Browne,    Mad    Couple,     7.2 
(1652). 

Notify  a  person — Give  notice  or  information  to  (the 
English  being  supposed  always  to  make  the  no- 
tice or  information  the  direct  object,  to  notify 
something  to  a  man,  whereas  we  notify  the  man 
of  the  thing). 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  I59 

**If  any  appointment  be  broken  and  the  king  be  notified 

thereof." — Wars  in  France  (1440). 

"The  clatter  of  hoofs  notified  the  concierge  that  Baron 

Grandesella's   family   were   on   the   point   of    arrival." — 

Olyphant,  AUiora  Peto,  1.66   (1883). 

Notional — Whimsical. 

"The    old    dogmatists    and    notional    speculators." — 
Power,  Exp.  Phil.,  3.193  (1664). 

Notions — Small  wares. 

"Notions    framed    in    foreign   looms." — Young,    Night 
Thoughts,  Night  2   (1742). 

o 

Obligate. 

"My  station  obligates  me  to  render  obedience  to  her 
commands." — Athenaeum,  June  2,  1668. 

Obligement. 

"This  I  would  endure,  to  cancel  my  obligements  to  him." 
— Dryden,  Rival  Ladies,  2.2  (1664). 

Obsolescent. 

Used  by  Johnson,  s.  v.  hereout. 

Obtusity. 

"A  terrible  thing  obtusity  of  sight  would  be  to  me." — 
Scott,  Fam.  Letters,  2.19.165  (1823). 

Op  after  gerund. 

"Not  the  clothing  or  feeding  of  Christ  but  the  housing 
of  him." — Donne,  Sermons,  4.9.171   (1631). 

Or  after  verbs  of  sensation. 

"She  smelled  of  it  and  ate  it." — Defoe,  Robinson  Cru- 
soe, 1.4  (1719). 


l6o  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

OrriCE — "Small  house  or  hut  to  accommodate  over- 
flow of  family" — so  Clapin. 

"To  be  sold,  a  freehold  house,  with  attached  and  de- 
tached offices  of  every  description." — London  Times,  June 
28,  1798. 

Oleomargarine. 

The  first  known  use  of  this  word  was  by  a 
French  chemist,  Berthelot,  in  1854. 
Once — As  soon  as. 

"Once  I  had  got  it,  it  was  easy  to  unlock  her  breast." — 
Frances  Sheridan,  Sidney  Biddulph,  2.96  (1761). 

Once  and  Again — Sometimes,  repeatedly. 

"Once  and  again  iterated." — /.  King,  Jonas,  642 
(1597). 

Operate. 

Used  in  England,  in  every  sense  in  which  we 
ever  employ  this  verb,  from  early  in  the  17th  Cen- 
tury. 

Orate — Make  a  speech. 

"Oh,  let  it  be  lawful  for  me  to  orate." — Timon,  2.4.32 
(1600). 

Ordinary — Homely,  not  handsome. 

"There  is  those  that  do  it  for  four  shillings  apiece,  but 
very  ordinary  work." — Primatt,  City  and  C.  Build.,  71 
(1667). 

Orphanage — Orphan  asylum. 

"There  is  an  orphanage  in  which  there  are  forty  chil- 
dren."— London  Standard,  Feb.  7,  1865. 

Orts — Refuse  fodder. 

In  "Promptorium  Parvulorum"  (1440). 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  l6l 

Out — Unfavorable  condition  or  feeling. 

"Launcelot  and  I  are  out." — Merchant  of  Venice,  3.5.34 
(1598). 

Out — To  take  or  put  out. 

"The   lord    by    knight's    service    might    have    outed    a 
farmer." — Kitchin,  Courts  Leet,  261   (1598). 

Outsider — Person  not  in  a  party  or  an  organization. 
"There  was  a  whist  and  a  casino  table,  and  six  out- 
siders."— Jane  Austen,  Letters,  1.245  (1800). 

Over  a  signature.  "Used  in  a  very  appropriate  man- 
ner, as  'to  write  a  letter  over  one's  signature,'  " 
says  Clapin.  I  disagree  as  to  the  propriety  of 
the  usage.  It  seems  to  me  that  one  makes  a  state- 
ment under  his  signature,  whatever  may  be  the 
relative  position  of  statement  and  signature  on 
the  paper,  exactly  as  a  soldier  fights  under  a  cer- 
tain flag  though  he  may  be  on  a  mountain  top  and 
the  colors  in  the  valley  far  below  him,  or  as  a  man 
does  business  under  a  certain  firm  name,  though 
his  sign  may  be  on  the  first  floor  and  his  shop  on 
the  second.  Be  that  as  it  may,  the  expression  was 
first  used  in  England,  so  far  as  is  known.  It 
occurs  in  "Notes  and  Queries,"  2d  Series,  4.87 
(1857). 

Over  and  Above — Very,  very  much. 

"Mrs.  Blifil  was  not  over  and  above  pleased." — Field- 
ing, Tom  Jones,  3.6  (1749). 

Overcoat — The  English  greatcoat  or  topcoat. 
Defined  in  Craig's  Dictionary,  1848. 


l62  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Overly — Excessively. 

Occurs  in  Wolfstan's  13th  Homily,  early  in 
11th  Century. 

Overrun — Run  over  hastily. 

Bartlett's  only  citation  is  from  the  New  York 
Tribune,  June  16,  1849:  "Rapp's  community 
was  lately  overrun  by  a  traveller."  One  of  Mur- 
ray's definitions  of  the  word,  with  citations  of 
1000,  1300,  1538,  1577  and  1656,  is:  ''To  pass 
in  rapid  review,  glance  through  rapidly." 

Overture,  verb — Propose. 

"It  had  become  you  rather  to  have  overtured  a  way." — 
True  Nonconformist,  100  (1671). 

Oyster  Plant. 

"Mertensia  maritima  is  called  oyster  plant." — Hogg, 
Vegetable  Kingdom,  542  (1858). 

Pancake. 

P 

Used  in  "Two  Cookery  Books,"  1.45  (1430). 

Panier — Bustle. 

"The  excrescences  worn  on  the  back  are  spoken  of  as 
panTers." — Punch,  July  31,  1869. 

Paragraphist. 

"Every  paragraphist  is  noticing  the  advantages  which 
await  the  issue." — Spirit  Public  Journals,  2.350  (1798). 

Peaky — Sickly  looking. 

A  correspondent  of  the  London  Times  says  this 
word  is  the  purest  old  Devonshire. 


EXOTIC     AMERICANISMS  163 

Peddle — "Sell  anything  in  small  quantities" — so  Cla- 
pin. 

"The  best  trade  that  can  be  driven  is  only  a  sort  of 
peddling." — Philosophical  Transactions,  17.792   (1688). 

Peltry — Raw  skins  of  wild  animals,  with  fur  on. 

"They  bring  all  manner  of  peltry." — Fortescue,  Works, 
553   (1451). 

Permit — Written  permission. 

"The  goods  shall  be  again  visited  and  the  permit  exam- 
ined."—5ooy^  of  Rates,  122   (1714). 

Pernickity — Fastidious. 
Defined  in  Jamieson. 

Pettifog  as  a  transitive  verb. 

Cotgrave's  French-English  Dictionary   (1611)    defines: 
"Chicaner,  to  wrangle  or  pettifog  it." 

Pick — To  select. 

Used  by  Gower,  "Confessio  Amantis,"   1.296 
(1390). 

Pick — "A  thread;  the  quality  of  the  cloth  is  denoted 
by  the  number  of  picks  it  has  to  the  inch" — so 
Bartlett. 

Clearly  only  an  extension  of  the  old  British 
use  of  the  word  to  indicate  a  throw  of  the  shuttle. 

Pigeonhole — Receptacle  for  documents. 

"I  put  the  papers  into  a  pigeonhole  in  the  cabinet." — 
Transactions  Society  of  Arts,  2.156  (1789). 

Piker — "Cautious  gambler,"  says  Clapin.  I  think  it 
is  slang  for  a  stingy  person.  It  occurs,  in  the 
sense  of  thief,  in  "Piers  Plowman"  (1393). 


164  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Pile — ^Arrow. 

Used,  in  various  spellings,  by  British  writers  as 
early  as  the  11th  Century. 

Pimping — Little,  petty. 

"Out  of  a  little  pimping  comer  of  Britain." — T.  Brown, 
Saints  in  Uproar,  1.77  (1687). 

Pinky — The  little  finger. 

Defined  in  Jamieson. 
Pitch  and  Toss — A  game. 

"The  germ  of  gambling  sprouts  in  pitch  and  toss." — 
Sir  A.  Boswell,  Edinburgh,  54  (1810). 

Pitcher — "American  for  jug,"  says  Farmer. 

This  Americanism  may  be  found  in  British 
writers  of  the  13th  and  every  subsequent  century 
to  the  present  time.  I  have  tried  in  vain  to  as- 
certain what  distinction  is  made  between  the  two 
words  by  the  English  people  who  now  call  a  milk 
pitcher  a  "jug"  but  make  no  scruple  of  saying 
that  "little  pitchers  have  big  ears"  or  of  speak- 
ing of  the  pitcher  that  went  once  too  often  to  the 
well.  It  seems  to  me  that  we  Americans  do  well 
to  discriminate  as  we  always  do,  a  pitcher  with 
us  being  a  vessel  of  any  material  but  having  a 
comparatively  wide  mouth,  perhaps  covered  but 
never  tightly  closed,  whereas  a  jug  is  made  of 
earthenware  and  has  a  small  mouth  intended  for 
a  cork  or  some  other  sort  of  stopper. 

Pitch  In — To  attack. 

Defined  in  Halliwell. 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  165 

Plane  Tree. 

Used  in  Great  Britain,  and  applied  to  several 
different  plants,  since  the  15th  Century. 

Plantain. 

"I  am  exalted  like  a  plantayne  tree  by  the  waterside." — 
Coverdale,  Ecclesiasticus,  24.14  (1535). 

Plantation — "Estate  appropriated  to  the  production 
of  staple  crops  by  slave  labor" — so  Bartlett. 

Murray  defines:     "A  settlement  in  a  new  or 
conquered  country,"  with  citation  of  1614. 

Play  Actor. 

"If  play  actors  or  spectators  think  themselves  injured 
by  any  censure." — Prynne,  Histriomastix  (1663). 

Pleasure — As  verb,  to  please. 

"He  meant  to  give  sentence  against  her  to  pleasure  the 
king."—;?.  Hall,  Life  of  Fisher  (1559). 

Pluck — "Heart,  liver,  lungs,  &c.,  of  slaughtered  ani- 
mal"— so  Clapin. 

So  used  in  Cotgrave's  French-English  Diction- 
ary (1611). 

Ply — Sail  back  and  forth. 

"A  detachment  which  plies  between  the  Godavery  and 
camp." — Despatch  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington  (1803). 

Poach — Tread  soft  ground. 

"The  horses  keeping  the  furrow,  to  avoid  poaching  the 
land."— PZo?,  Oxfordshire,  247  (1677). 


l66  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Poke,  often  with  prefix  "slow" — ^Lazy  person,  daw- 
dler. 

"Do  you  think  I  can  live,  poking  by  myself?" — Jane 
Austen,  Sense  and  Sensibility,  2.3  (1796). 

Poke — Bag. 

Dates  back  in  England  at  least  to  the  14th  Cen- 
tury. Chaucer's  "Reeve's  Tale"  has  "two  pigs 
in  a  poke." 

Poke  Bonnet. 

"Another  street  nuisance  is  your  poke  bonnet  ladies." — 
Hermit  in  London,  92.5.35   (1820). 

Poky — Dull,  stupid. 

Defined  in  Davies  as  "poor,  shabby." 
PoLT — A  blow. 

Defined  in  Davies,  with  citation  of  1800. 

PoMPiON — Pumpkin. 

"Pompions  in  May." — Tusser,  Husbandry,  95   (1573). 

Pond.  "We  give  this  name,"  says  Bartlett,  "to  col- 
lections of  water  in  the  interior  country,  which  are 
fed  by  springs,  and  from  which  issues  a  small 
stream."  I  do  not  think  the  "small  stream"  neces- 
sary to  constitute  a  pond  in  the  American  sense. 
Johnson  defines:  "A  small  pool  or  lake  of  wa- 
ter." 

Poorly — Badly,  ill. 

"Some  cattle  wax  faint  and  look  poorly." — Tusser,  Hus- 
bandry, 79  (1573). 


EXOTIC     AMERICANISMS  167 

Pop — Pistol. 

So  defined  by  Defoe,   "Street  Robberies,"  33 
(1728). 
Posh — Mud. 

Defined  in  the  English  Dialect  Dictionary. 

Pot  Hole. 

"Eight  feet  of  the  workable  stone  may  be  considered 
free  from  pot  holes." — Civil  Engineer's  Journal,  2.373 
(1839). 

Potter  in  phrase  "to  potter  round." 

Defined  in  Craven  Glossary  (1828). 

POTWALLOPER Scullion. 

First  occurs,  with  slightly  different  meaning, 
in  the  1769  edition  of  Defoe's  "Tom,"  2.2.2i. 
Prayerfully. 

"They  should  prayerfully  examine  the  question." — 
Faber,  Romanism,  39  (1826). 

Precinct — Subdivision  of  county  or  city. 

In  use  in  England,  in  practically  the  same  sense, 
since  the  15th  Century. 

Predicate  "is  constantly  confounded  with  predict," 
says  Bartlett.  Truly  it  is;  and  so  it  was  in  Eng- 
land as  far  back  as  1623,  when  Cockeram  pub- 
lished his  dictionary  including  the  definition: 
"Predicate,  to  foretell." 

Preferential. 

"Their  preferential  connection  with  this  or  that  an- 
tecedent condition." — Mayo,  Popular  Superstitions,  76 
(1849). 


l68  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Presidency. 

Given  in  Percival's  Spanish  Dictionary  (1591) 
as  translation  of  presidencia. 

Presidential — Pertaining  to  a  president.     In  this 
sense,  says  Bartlett,  tlie  word  is  an  Americanism. 
"A  president  of  the  law  vaunted  himself  to  have  hud- 
dled up  together  two  hundred  strange  places  in  a  presi- 
dential law  case." — Florio,  Montaigne,  3.12.629    (1603). 

PRESTIDIGITATE. 

This  verb  may  have  been  invented  in  the  United 
States ;  but  Southey  used  the  noun  prestidigitateur 
as  an  English  word  in  the  "Commonplace  Book," 
4.603  (1843). 

Pretty  as  a  noun. 

"Back  to  back,  my  pretties." — Goldsmith,  She  Stoops 
to  Conquer  (1773). 

Pretzel. 

A  word  brought  here  from  their  mother  coun- 
try, exactly  in  its  original  form,  by  German  immi- 
grants. 

Primp — "To  dress  up  in  a  finical  manner" — Bartlett. 
"Just   i'  the  newest   fashion   primped." — Beattie,   Par- 
ings, 14  (1801). 

It  seems  to  me  this  word  is  merely  a  corruption 
of  prink,  which  has  been  used  in  England  in  the 
same  sense  from  the  16th  Century. 

Professor  of  Religion — Communicant. 

Prof.  Lounsbury  says  (International  Review,  8.5.482) 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  169 

that  "the  word  with  this  meaning  can  be   found  in  the 
greatest  of  Milton's  prose  treatises." 

Properly — Very  much. 

"Such  variety  of  pictures  that  I  was  properly  con- 
founded."— Pepys,  June  24,  1664. 

Publishment. 

"The  cardinal  rebuked  them  by  open  publishment." — 
Fabyan's  Chronicle,  7.229.259  (1494). 

Pull  Through — ^Narrowly  escape  disaster. 

"I  shall  pull  through,  my  dear." — Bleak  House,  37 
(1852). 

Pulpiteer — Preacher. 

"By  the  incitement  of  these  fiery  pulpiteers." — Howell, 
Twelve  Treatises,  16  (1642). 

Puny — Weak. 

"A  puny  subject  strikes  at  thy  great  glory." — Richard 
Second,  3.2.86  (1593). 

Push — Party,  combination  of  men,  "crowd." 

"A  push,  alias  an  accidental  crowd  of  people." — Hig- 
gin.  True  Disciple,  13   (1718). 

Put,  Put  Off,  Put  Out — Start,  go,  depart.  Said  of 
a  ship  or  a  man. 

"My  honest  friend  had  hoisted  sail  and  put  to  sea  to- 
day."— Comedy  of  Errors,  5.1.21   (1590). 

"They  did  shoot  such  abundance  of  arrows  that  they 
made  our  men  put  off." — Lichefield,  Castanheda's  East 
Indies,  1.79.162   (1582). 

"If  any  ship  put  out,  then  straightway." — Comedy  of 
Errors,  3.2.190. 


lyO  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Put-up  Job — Swindle  or  robbery  carefully  prear- 
ranged. 

"At  least  it  can't  be  a  put-up  job." — Oliver  Twist,  19 
(1838). 


QuASHiE — Negro.  Who  ever  heard  an  American  use 
this  term? 

"Quashie  himself,  or  a  company  of  free  blacks." — M. 
Scott,  Tom  Cringle,  246   (1833). 

Quit  (with  gerund  expressed  or  understood) — To 
stop. 

"Persons  who  rent  seats,  after  they  quit  sitting  in  them." 
— Liverpool  Municipal  Records,  2.166   (1754). 

Quite  in  such  phrases  as  "quite  a  while,"  "quite  a 
house." 

"It  is  quite  a  pleasing  retirement." — Toldewy,  Two 
Orphans,  3.49  (1756). 

"Quite  a  comfortable  dwelling." — Southey,  Letters,  1.84 
(1799). 

(The  senseless  expression  "quite  a  few,"  mean- 
ing not  very  few  but  a  considerable  number,  is 
believed  to  be  an  Americanism,  humiliating  as  it 
is  to  an  American  to  make  the  confession.) 

R 

Racker — "A  kind  of  pacing  horse" — Bartlett. 

"One  old  racking  nag." — Richmond,  Wills,  166  (1562). 


EXOTIC     AMERICANISMS  I7I 

Rail — Part  of  a  fence. 

"For  sawing  reyles  to  the  pale." — Nottingham  Records, 
3.212  (1494). 

Railroad — Railway. 

"It  seems  practicable  to  carry  the  coals  upon  a  xdSi- 
ro2Ld."—Smeatin,  Report,  2.411   (1775). 

Raise — Cause  to  grow,  rear,  as  said  of  plants,  ani- 
mals and  children. 

"Your  railroad  is  only  a  device  for  making  the  world 
smaller." — Ruskin,  Modern  Painters,  3.4.17   (1856). 

"The  alaternus  is  raised  from  seeds." — Worlidge,  Agri- 
culture," 99  (1669). 

"Directions  when  to  raise  up  goslings." — Massinger, 
City  Madam,  2.2  (1632). 

"The  child  is  the  picture  of  his  father,  and  she  would 
endeavor  to  raise  it  for  his  sake." — Bishop,  Life  and  Ad- 
ventures, 268  (1744). 

Rakehelly — Intensely  bad. 

"The  rakehelly  route  of  our  ragged  rhymes." — Spenser, 
Shepherd's  Calendar,  Dedication  (1579). 

Range — Ground  over  which  ranging  is  possible. 

"Sir  Launcelot  came  into  the  range." — Malory,  Arthur, 
10.41    (1470). 

Rare  (meat) — Not  cooked  brown. 

Defined  as  "underdone"  in  Dictionary  of  Isle 
of  Wight  Dialect. 

Rattletrap — Something  shaky  and  of  little  value. 

"She  used  to  go  round  with  these  rattletraps." — Goody 
Two  Shoes,  2.27  (1766). 


172  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Rave — Part  of  vehicle. 

Occurs  in  Palsgrave's  French  Dictionary 
(1530). 

Razee — Something  (originally  a  vessel)  cut  down. 

"The  captain  of  a  twenty-four  razee." — Sir  R.  Wilson, 
Life,  1.4.216  (1803). 

Reach — Part  of  a  vehicle. 

"The  reach  is  the  most  important  portion." — Routledge's 
Boy's  Annual,  478  (1868) 

Read  Out — Expel. 

The  first  known  use  of  this  phrase  is  in  a  ser- 
mon by  an  English  divine,  John  Hunt,  1865. 

Real — Very. 

"An  opportunity  of  doing  a  real  good  office." — /.  Fox, 
Wanderer,  17.116  (1718). 

Recommend,  noun — Commendation. 

Recommendum  is  used  in  the  same  sense  in 
Nashe's  Lenten  Stuffe,  Harleiian  Miscellanies, 
6.180  (1599),  The  anglicized  form,  in  a  curious 
combination  of  singular  and  plural,  the  writer 
speaking  of  "a  recommends  to  a  friend,"  appears 
in  Webster's  "The  Devil's  Law  Case,"  2.1  (1623). 

Recoup. 

"The  defendant  shall  recoup  the  third  part  of  the  prof- 
its."—Co^e  on  Littleton,  39  (1628). 

Recoupment. 

"Recoupment  in  its  original  sense  was  a  mere  right  of 
reduction."— IFafermaw,  Law  of  Set-Ofj,  468    (1869). 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  I73 

Red  Tape — Tedious  official  routine. 

"One  intellect  still  really  human  and  not  redtapish." — 
Carlyle,  Latterday  Pamphlets,  3.94   (1850). 

Rehash. 

"Ulric  is  the  Giaour  rehashed." — Maginn,  Byron's 
Werner,  2.1.148  (1822). 

Reland,     Go  on  shore  after  having  embarked. 

"After  they  had  delivered  their  cargo  and  relanded  in 
the  port  of  London."— Lj/e  of  N.  Frowde,  39  (1773). 

Reliable. 

"Their  judgment  to  be  as  reliable  as  if  given  by  the 
Lords  of  Session." — Privy  Council  of  Scotland,  1.667 
(1569). 

Remind — Remember. 

"Let  him  remind  what  attributes  were  given." — Wither, 
Vox  Pacif.,  189  (1645). 

Rench — Mispronunciation  of  rinse. 

Said  by  Halliwell  to  be  northern  dialect. 

Rendition — Rendering,  surrendering. 

"His  rendition  afterward  to  the  Scotch  army." — Milton, 
Eikonoklastes  (1649). 

Renewedly. 

"I  declare  renewedly  my  firm  resolution." — Richard- 
son, Clarissa  Harlowe,  2.336  (1748). 

Reopen. 

"Roots  can  penetrate  no  farther  into  it  unless  it  is  re- 
opened by  tillage." — Tully,  Horse-Hoeing  Husbandry, 
1.8  (1733). 


174  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Repetitious. 

"The  great  charter  is  comprehensive  and  repetitious." — 
Penn,  Eng.  Pres.  Int.,  17  (1675). 

Reprobacy. 

"God  smiteth  these  sinners  with  reprobacy  of  mind." — 
Trapp,  Hebrews,  6.8  (1647). 

Requisition. 

"If  either  recover  from  France  places  belonging  to  the 
other,  he  shall  upon  requisition  restore  them." — Herbert, 
Henry  VIII,  117  (1648). 

Researcher.     Investigator. 

Used  on  title  page  of  Maxwell's  "Admirable 
Prophecies"  (1615). 

Residenter — Resident. 

"The  justice-deputs  were  not  ordinar  residenters  in 
town." — Mackenzie,  Criminal  Laws  of  Scotland,  2.8.1 
(1678). 

Resolve,  noun — Resolution. 

"A  short  vote  or  resolve  of  this  house  would  haply  give 
satisfaction." — Burton's  Diary,  1.270  (1656), 

Result — Decision  of  a  council. 

"If  our  proposals  once  again  were  heard,  we  should 
compel  them  to  a  quick  result." — Paradise  Lost,  6.619 
(1667). 

Resurrect. 

"As  fast  as  we  knock  them  on  the  head,  this  Tunestrick 
resurrects  them." — Annual  Register,  174.1   (1772). 

Retiracy. 

"I  enjoy  a  considerable  portion  of  retiracy." — F.  A. 
Kemble,  Later  Life,  2.228  (1842). 


EXOTIC     AMERICANISMS  175 

Retrospect — To  look  back  at  something. 

"You  and  I  have  often  retrospected  the  faces  and  minds 
of  grown  people." — Richardson,  Clarissa  Harlowe,  2.8 
(1748). 

Rich — Highly  amusing. 

"What  a  rich  scene  of  this  would  thy  exquisite  powers 
make!" — Sterne,  Tristram  Shandy,  4.7   (1760). 

RiDE-AND-TiE — Said  of  two  persons  who  use  the  same 
horse  by  turns,  one  riding  ahead  a  certain  dis- 
tance and  then  tying  the  horse  and  leaving  him 
for  the  other. 

"Mr.  Adams  discharged  the  bill,  and  they  set  out,  hav- 
ing agreed  to  ride  and  tie." — Fielding,  Joseph  Andrews, 
2.2  (1742). 

Rider — Supplement  to  a  bill,  added  with  the  hope  of 
thus  securing  enactment  which  could  not  be  ob- 
tained separately. 

"Col.  B.  carried  a  rider,  as  it  is  called,  being  a  clause 
to  be  added  at  the  last  reading." — Roger  North,  Examen, 
3.6.60  (1734). 

Right — Very,  as  in  phrase,  "it  rains  right  hard." 

Occurs  in  the  A.  V.,  Psalm  139.14,  and  in  con- 
stant use  in  Great  Britain  in  such  phrases  as 
"right  honorable"  and  "right  reverend,"  whereas 
in  the  United  States  it  is  only  a  southern  collo- 
quialism. 

To  Rights — Immediately. 

"Mr.  Coventry  and  us  two  did  discourse  with  the  duke 
a  little,  and  so  to  rights  home  again." — Pepys'  Diary, 
June  8,  1663. 


176  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

To  Rights — In  order. 

So  defined  in  Dictionary  of  Isle  of  Wight  Dia- 
lect, and  so  used  in  the  "Antiquary,"  Chap.  3. 

Right  Up — To  set  in  order. 

"Having  there  wrighted  up  such  ships  of  his." — Ussher, 
Annals,  391   (1656). 

Rip — Move  with  force  or  speed;  "let  her  rip." 

"The  sweeping  scythe  now  rips  along." — Bloom  field, 
Farmer's  Boy,  Summer,  141   (1798). 

Roarer. 

"Thou  hast  delivered  me  from  roreris." — Wyclif,  Eccle- 
siasticus,  51.4  (1388).  That  "roreris"  is  roarers  appears 
from  the  Douay  version,  which  reads:  "From  them  that 
did  roar." 

Rogue — Plant  not  up  to  type. 

"The  rogues,  as  they  call  the  plants  that  deviate  from 
the  proper  standard." — Darwin,  Origin  of  Species,  1.32 
(1859). 

Rooster — Cock. 

Said  by  a  writer  in  Harper's  Monthly,  April, 
1883,  p.  165,  to  be  an  old  Sussex  provincialism. 

Roster — List  of  officers  or  the  like. 

"As  each  nation  had  a  different  number  of  battalions, 
their  duty  was  regulated  by  a  roster." — Bland,  Military 
Discipline,  19.207   (1727). 

Rote — Sound  of  surf. 

"While  the  sea's  rote  doth  ring  their  doleful  knell." — 
Niccols,  England's  Eliza,  270.837  (1610). 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  I77 

Roughs — Rowdies. 

"There'll  be  policemen  to  control  the  roughs." — Bar- 
ham,  Life  and  Letters,  2.39  (1837). 

Roundabout — Boy's  jacket. 

"To  wear  their  light  nankeen  trousers  and  gingham 
roundabouts." — Marryat,  Monsieur  Violet,  44  (1844). 

Round  Up  (animals) — Gather  together. 

"We  rounded  up  the  cattle  till  the  moon  should  rise." — 
C.  Sturt,  Central  Australia,  1.228  (1847). 

RousER — "Something  very  exciting  or  very  great," 
says  Bartlett.  Obviously  so  called  because  it 
rouses  attention  or  rouses  sleepy  listeners.  In 
the  literal  sense,  the  word  has  been  in  use  in  Eng- 
land for  centuries,  and  is  still  in  use. 

Rubber — Caoutchouc. 

Howard's  New  Royal  Encyclopedia,  1788,  says 
that  caoutchouc  "is  popularly  called  rubber." 
This  is  first  known  instance  of  this  use  of  the 
word. 

Ruination. 

This  noun  may  be  an  American  invention;  but 
the  verb  ruinate  is  at  least  as  old  as  the  16th  Cen- 
tury in  England.  Ruination  is  in  Latham's  Dic- 
tionary, marked  "rare  or  obsolete."  Davies  says: 
"I  should  have  thought  it  common  enough  and  in 
every-day  use." 

Run — Small  stream. 

"Chiefly  U.  S.  and  northern  dialects,"  says  Murray, 
giving  Scotch  citations  as  old  as  1581. 


178  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

S 

Safe — 1.  Iron  box  for  keeping  valuables. 

"A  pen  knife  and  a  letter  were  found  lying  near  the 
safe,  as  if  they  had  been  lost  by  the  robber." — Bethune, 
Scotch  Peasant,  70  (1328). 

2.  Box  for  provisions. 

Used  in  "Promptorium  Parvulorum." 

Sappy — Silly. 

Defined  in  Moor's  Suffolk  Glossary  (1823). 

Sarcophagus — "Leaden  coffin" — so  Farmer  (copied 
by  Clapin)  erroneously,  the  term  always  indicat- 
ing a  coffin  or  the  image  of  a  coffin  made  of  stone, 
just  as  the  word  has  been  used  in  England  for 
centuries. 

"Several  sarcophagi  that  had  enclosed  the  ashes  of 
men."— Addison,  Italy,  198  (1705). 

Sauce — Impudence. 

Defined  in  Halliwell,  "various  dialects." 

Say-so — Unsupported  assertion. 

"They  are  only  say-soes  and  no  proof." — Heylin,  Lin- 
coln, 1.49   (1637). 

Scare — Fright,  panic,  stampede. 

Defined  by  Davies.  Occurs  in  Holland's 
"Livy,"  8.37.308  (1600). 

Scattering — Scattered. 

"A  small  village,  inhabited  in  scattering  wise." — Hol- 
land, Camden's  Britannia,  1.439  (1610). 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  I79 

Schnapps — Gin,  or  similar  liquor. 

"Enjoy  your  schnaps." — Blackwood's  Magazine,  3.403 
(1818). 

Scientist. 

Seems  (from  the  way  in  which  he  uses  the 
word,  in  Introduction  to  "Philosophy  of  Induc- 
tive Sciences")  to  have  been  invented  about  1840 
by  Dr.  William  Whewell  of  Cambridge  Univer- 
sity. 

Scoot — Run,  decamp. 

"I  set  him  a-scouting  like  a  lusty  fellow." — Capt.  Tyr- 
rell, Annual  Register,  2  (1758). 

Scrabble — Fight. 

This  particular  use  may  be  American;  but  the 
word  occurs  in  Matthew's  Bible  of  1537,  First 
Samuel,  21.13. 

Scrap — Very  small  piece. 

"Shreds,  or  scraps  as  they  are  called." — Philosophical 
Transactions,  80.367  (1790). 

Scratches — Disease  of  horses. 

Given  as  translation  of  arestin  in  Percivall's 
Spanish  Dictionary  (1591). 

Screed — Long  composition. 

"Mr.  Manson  threatens  a  long  screed  of  poetry." — Ross, 
Helenore,  7  (1789). 

Screws  in  such  phrases  as  "put  on  the  screws,"  "turn 
the  screws" — Bring  pressure  to  bear  on  a  person, 
compelling  him  to  act  against  his  will. 


l8o  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

A  despatch  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington  (1803) 
speaks  of  bringing  "all  the  screws"  to  bear  upon 
"this  chief."  Perhaps  the  reference  is  to  the  In- 
quisition and  its  thumbscrews. 

ScREWSMAN — Picker  of  locks. 

Defined  in  Vaux's  Flash  Dictionary  (1812). 

ScRiBBLEMENT — Writing. 

"I  am  tired  of  this  endless  scribblement." — Cowper, 
Letter  to  Unwin,  Oct.  20,  1784. 

Scringe — To  flinch,  cower. 

Defined  in  Forby's  Vocabulary  of  East  Anglia 
(1825). 

Scruff — Nape  of  neck. 

Defined  as  "northern"  dialect  in  Grose's  Pro- 
vincial Dictionary  (1790). 

Scuff — Rub  feet  on  floor. 

Defined  as  "western"  dialect  in  Halliwell. 

ScuLDUGGERY — Wire  pulling;  fraud. 

Doubtless  only  variant  of  old  Scotch  term 
spelled  sculdudry  by  Jamieson. 

Sealer — Inspector  of  merchandise  or  of  weights  and 
measures. 

In  use  in  Great  Britain  in  acts  of  Parliament 
from  the  15th  century. 

Seeding — Sowing,  especially  of  grass  seed. 

"The  rent,  sowing  and  seeding  of  an  acre  of  rj'e." — 
Kingsthorpiana,  81  (1542). 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  l8l 

Seen — Saw    (heard    only    among    the    very    lowest 
classes). 

Said  by  a  writer  in  Harper's  Monthly,  66.395. 
665  (April,  1883)  to  be  a  Sussex  vulgarism. 

Seep — ^Leak  through  fine  pores. 

*'Rain  seeps  through  the  thack." — A.  Wilson,  Brother 
Pedlar,  173  (1790). 

Sell — Practical  joke;  hoax;  "take-in." 

"Mr.  Green  having  swallowed  this,  his  friend  was  en- 
abled not  only  to  use  up  old  sells  but  to  draw  on  his  in- 
vention for  new  ones." — Verdant  Green,  1.7   (1853). 

Sensationism. 

"In  them  we  have  sensationism  pure  and  undisguised." 
— Dean  Mansel,  Letters,  242   (1863). 

Sensationist. 

"The  motto  of  the  sensationists." — W.  H.  Russell,  Lon- 
don Times,  Sept.  24,  1861. 

Serious — Religious. 

"Peter  Bell,  when  he  had  been  with  fresh  imported  hell 
fire  warmed,  grew  serious." — Shelley,  Peter  Bell  Third, 
1.1  (1819). 

Set — Get  stuck. 

"When  their  wagons  were  set  in  bad  roads." — /.  Clubbe, 
Tracts,  1.83  (1756). 

Set — Determined,  firm. 

"He  was  upon  patience  so  set." — Gower,  Confessio 
Amantis,  1.301   (1390). 

Set  By,  Set  Store  By,  with  variations — Value. 

"Disdaining  and  setting  light  by  other  bathing  vessels." 
—Holland,  Pliny,  32.12  (1601). 


l82  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

"I  set  no  great  store  by  the  circumstance." — Dickens, 
American  Notes,  4. 

Setback — Reverse,  obstacle,  hindrance. 

"When  he  is  about  his  work,  how  many  setbacks  doth 
he  meet  with!" — Flavel,  Husbandry  Spiritualized,  1.20 
(1674). 

Setting  Pole — Pole  used  for  propelling  boats. 

Halliwell's  sixth  definition  of  the  verb  set  is 
"to  push,  to  propel."  Naturally  then  a  pole  used 
for  this  purpose  is  a  setting  pole. 

Settle — 1.  To  be  installed  as  pastor  of  a  church. 

"Mr.  Chambers  being  now  settled,  the  communicants 
could  not  be  deprived  of  him." — Wodrow,  Correspondence, 
3.253  (1726). 

2.  To  install  a  pastor. 

"The  presbytery  having  refused  to  settle  the  person  pre- 
sented by  the  patron." — Boswell's  Johnson,  May  1,  1773. 

3.  To  pay  a  bill. 

"Let  us  settle  accounts;  you'll  see  no  more  of  my 
money." — Foote,  Commissary,  1.26  (1765). 

4.  To  kill. 

"It  settled  him  and  set  his  spirit  gone." — Chapman, 
Iliad,  13.587  (1611). 

Settle  One's  Hash — Give  him  his  quietus. 

"My  master  is  engaged  in  settling  the  hash  of  your 
master." — Muzzle  to  Trotter,  Pickwick  Papers,  25  (1836). 

Settler — Unanswerable  proposition. 

"This  was  a  settler;  I  could  make  no  answer." — Hogg, 
Tales,  5.221   (1817). 


EXOTIC     AMERICANISMS  183 

Shadow — Follow  closely. 

"Thereupon  he  shadowed  him  up  and  down." — Row- 
lands, Greene's  Ghost,  17  (1602). 

Shake  Dice. 

"Dice  are  shaked." — Googe,  Popish  Kingdoms,  47 
(1570). 

Shakers. 

"The  new  sect  of  Shakers." — Scottish  Mist  Dispelled, 
17  (1648). 

Shakes,  No  Great — Not  of  much  importance. 

"No  great  shakes  at  learned  chat." — Moore,  Tom  Crib, 
41  (1819). 

Shakiness. 

Bartlett's  only  citation  is  dated  1876.  Four- 
teen years  earlier,  the  Cornhill  Magazine,  6.613, 
spoke  of  "shakiness  of  the  hand." 

Shaky — Wavering,  uncertain. 

"Our  director  was  what  is  not  to  be  found  in  Johnson's 
Dictionary,  rather  shaky," — Thackeray,  Hoggarty  Dia- 
mond, 10  (1841). 

Sharp — Bright  fellow,  sharper. 

"The  long  list  of  sharps  who  advertise  their  tips." — 
Pall  Mall  Gazette,  Sept.  10,  1865. 

Sharp,  adverb — Punctually. 

"They  should  dine  that  day  at  3  o'clock  sharp." — 
Thackeray,  Shabby-genteel  Story,  3  (1840) 

Sharp  Practice — Unscrupulous  bargaining. 

"The  sharp  practice  of  the  world  drives  some  logic  into 
the  most  vague  of  men." — Helps,  Friends  in  Council,  1.8 
142  (1847). 


184  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Shave — Narrow  escape. 

"I  seem  to  have  had  a  shave,  if  indeed  I  have  weath- 
ered the  point  yet." — R.  H.  Froude,  Reminiscences,  1.381 
(1834). 

Shave — Take  unfair  advantage  of,  as  by  discounting 
notes  at  unreasonable  usury. 

"He  measureth  miserably  to  his  servants,  shaving  and 
pinching  them." — Healey,  Theophrastus,  48   (1610). 

"Brokers  that  shave  poor  men  by  Jewish  interest." — 
Dekker,  Seven  Deadly  Sins,  6.40  (1606). 

Shaver — Extortioner. 

"I  will  not  speak  of  thieves  and  shavers." — Whitinton, 
Tully's  Offices,  3.144  (1534). 

Sheath  Knife. 

"She  purchases  a  sheath  knife." — Carlyle,  French  Revo- 
lution, 3.4.1   (1837). 

Sheeeny — Sharp  fellow,  cheat,  says  Bartlett.  I 
think  this  slang  term  means  a  Jew,  as  in  Eng- 
land. The  first  known  use  of  the  word  in  this 
sense  is  in  the  "Spirit  of  the  Public  Journals,"  85 
(1824). 

Sheer — Very  thin. 

"Tiffeny  is  the  sheerest  and  cheapest  lawn." — Best, 
Farm  Books,  106  (1641). 

Shell  (corn) — Remove  grains  from  cob. 

Only  special  application  of  term  applied  to  len- 
tils in  England  as  long  ago  as  1652,  it  occurring 
in  Turner's  "Herbal,"  2.33. 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  185 

Sherrivallies — Overalls. 

"You  find  them  to  be  breeches  patched  and  not  actually 
sherry vallies." — Gen.  C.  Lee,  Memoirs,  430   (1778). 

Shifty — Tricky. 

Given  as  translation  of  Latin  astutus  by  Levius 
(1570). 

Shimmy — Chemise. 

Defined  in  Hereford  Glossary  (1839). 

Shindy — Spree,  row. 

"What  a  prime  shindy,  my  messmates!" — Egan,  Life 
in  London,  10.248   (1821). 

"Kicking  up  all  sorts  of  shindies." — Ingoldsby  Legends, 
Series  3,  Hermann  (1845). 

Shine — "Show,  display,  fine  appearance." 

"Which  things  have  a  shine  of  wisdom." — Coverdale, 
Colossians,  2.23  (1535). 

"His  name  was  well  calculated  to  cut  a  shine." — Me- 
tropolis, 2.165   (1819). 

Shine — Distinguish  one's  self. 

"An  ambition  to  excel,  or,  as  the  term  is,  to  shine,  in 
company."— ^^ee^e,  Tatler,  244  (1710). 

Shiner — Kind  of  fish. 

"Young  mackerel  are  called  shiners." — Yarrett,  British 
Fishes,  1.124  (1836). 

Shingle — "Wooden  tile,  used  for  roofing" — so  Cla- 
pin. 

Murray  has  citations  as  old  as  the  13th  Cen- 
tury. 


l86  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Shinny — Boys'  game. 

Described     in     Brockett's     "North     Country 
Words." 
Shock — Group  of  stalks  or  sheaves  of  grain. 

Defined  in  "Promptorium  Parvulorum." 
Shoddy. 

Only  American  as  connoting  ostentation.  The 
word  occurs  in  Thackeray's  "Effects  of  Arts  on 
Health,"  67  (1832). 

Shoot — Shooting  match. 

"The  prince  is  much  pleased  with  his  shoot  this  year." 
—Hare,  Two  Noble  Lives,  1.360  (1852). 

Shoot  (rapids) — Dash  down  in  a  vessel  or  on  a  raft. 
"We  turned  down  the  river,  shooting  the  overfalls." — 
Har court,  Guiana,  49   (1613). 

Shorts — Small  clothes;  breeches. 

"Another  wanted  to  act  the  ghost  in  white  shorts  and  a 
nightcap." — Beaconsfield,  Vivian  Grey,  1.3.7  (1826). 

Shove — Hemp  stalk. 

"Flax  and  hemp  are  broken  from  the  stalks  into  large 
shoves." — Holme,  Armory,  3.285   (1688). 

Shoveller — Kind  of  duck. 

"The  shovelar  with  his  broad  beak." — Skelton,  Sparowe, 
408  (1529). 

Show — Opportunity;  chance  at  something. 

"Gie's  a  shaw  o'  your  snuff  horn." — Picken,  Poems,  58 
(1788). 

•  Shov^  Off — Make  a  display. 

"The  display  and  show-off  of  the  natural  disposition." 
—Pratt,  Pupil  of  Pleasure,  2.14  (1776). 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  187 

Sick  as  a  general  term,  not  implying  nausea. 

To  the  remarks  on  p.  44  may  be  added  the  fol- 
lowing quotation  from  a  book  called  "The  Differ- 
ence between  Words  Esteemed  Synonymous," 
published  at  Dublin  in  1776,  and  it  will  be  ob- 
served that  the  distinction  drawn  is  precisely  that 
which  obtains  in  American  practice:  "The  word 
ill  is  used  when  health  is  the  least  impaired ;  sick, 
when  the  body  is  greatly  diseased;  we  say,  when 
we  find  heaviness  upon  the  spirits,  or  want  of  ap- 
petite, that  we  are  ill;  but  when  the  whole  frame 
is  disordered,  we  say,  'he  is  sick.'  " 

Side  Hill — Hillside 

"Forty  six  acres  of  uplands  or  side-hill  lands." — Lon- 
don Gazette,  4489  (1708). 

Sideling — Inclined  to  one  side. 

Murray  gives  citations  from  the  14th,  15th, 
16th,  17th,  18th  and  19th  Centuries. 

Sidewalk — Walk  for  pedestrians,  at  side  of  drive- 
way. 

"The  sidewalks  for  foot  passengers  are  raised  a  foot 
above  the  carriageway." — Labeleye,  Westminster  Bridge, 
69  (1739). 

Sidewipe — Glancing  blow,  sometimes  miscalled  "side- 
swipe" by  careless  people. 

"Your  third  paragraph  is  a  mixture  of  sidewipes  and 
friendly  intimations." — Mrs.  Barbauld,  Richardson,  6.279 
(1757). 


l88  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Sidle — Move  sidewise. 

"She  could  not  bear  to  see  her  go  sidle,  sidle,  to  and 
iror—Vanbrugh,  Msop,  3   (1697). 

Signalize — To  signal. 

"They   were   signalizing   their   consort   with   lights." — 
Byron,  Letter  to  Muir,  Jan.  2,  1824. 

Sin — Since. 

"The  bodies  long  sin  destroyed  and  converted  into  pow- 
der."—Cax^ow,  Eneydos,  12 A4   (1490). 

Sinews — Money. 

"These  coins  be  called  of  wise  men  the  sinews  of  war." 
— Common  Weal  of  England,  87   (1550). 

Sing  Out — Shout  lustily. 

"  'Port  your  helm,'  sung  out  the  boatswain." — M.  Scott, 
Tom  Cringle,  1  (1833). 

SiRREE — Sir. 

"I    say,    sirree,    where    be'st    thee    going?" — Knight's 
Quarterly,  1.300  (1823). 

SiSTERN — Sisters. 

"You  have  the  brethren,  sistern  and  nephews." — Wil- 
son, Rhetoric,  30  (1853). 

Sit  Up  With — Court. 

Defined  in  the  Craven  Glossary. 

Sizz,  Sizzle — Hiss,  as  from  the  action  of  fire. 

"To  siz,  to  h.\ssr— Marshall,  Yorkshire,  2.352  (1788). 
"Sizzle,  the  half  hiss,  half  sigh  of  an  animal." — Moor, 
Suffolk  Words,  351  (1823). 

Skeary — Alarming  or  alarmed. 

"This  sight  so  skeary  beholding." — Stanihurst,  ^neid, 
4.438  (1583). 


exotic    americanisms  189 

Skedaddle. 

Said  by  Lord  Hill,  in  letter  to  London  Times, 
to  be  familiar  in  Scotland  and  the  North  of  Eng- 
land. 

Skid — Timber  for  temporary  support. 

"This  tub  was  fixed  upon  skids  (pieces  of  timber) 
six  inches  thick." — Philosophical  Transactions,  51.292 
(1759). 

Skipjack — Contemptible  fellow. 

Murray  gives  citations  from  the  16th  Century. 

Skipper — Cheese  mite  or  similar  creature. 

So  defined  in  Cornwall  and  Cumberland  Glos- 
saries. 

Skite — Run,  move  fast. 

"Like  a  shot  starn  that  through  the  air  skites  east  or 
west." — Ramsay,  Rise  and  Fall  of  Stocks,  112   (1721). 

Skive — To  cut  thin. 

Defined  in  Forby's  Vocabulary  of  East  Anglia. 

Skylark — Play  in  rude  style. 

"By  kicking  Nelson  when  skylarking." — Naval  Chron- 
icle, 21.84  (1809). 

Sky  Parlor — Garret. 
Defined  in  Grose. 

Sky  Pilot — Chaplain. 

Explained  in  Spectator  of  Dec.  30,  1893,  as  a 
sample  of  "sailors'  parlance."  Seems  very  un- 
likely to  have  been  taken  from  American  usage. 


190  american    english 

Slab,  Slabbed,  Slab  Off,  Slabsided. 

Slab,  in  the  sense  of  a  broad,  flat  and  thick 
slice,  such  as  the  first  cut  from  the  outside  of  a 
log,  is  as  old  as  Tusser's  "Husbandry"  (1573); 
and  all  American  uses  of  the  word  and  its  com- 
pounds have  clear  reference  to  this  original  mean- 
ing. 

Slack  Baked — "Deficient  in  sagacity." 

Merely  metaphorical  use  of  a  term  applied  lit- 
erally (to  bread  and  cake)  in  Great  Britain  for 
centuries. 

Slang — "Careless,  foolish  talk" — so  Thornton. 

"Thomas  Throw  knew  the  slang  well." — Tolderoy,  Two 
Orphans,  1.68  (1756). 

Slantendicular — Oblique. 

"Buttons  at  the  knees  in  a  slanting-dicular  direction." 
—Hewlett,  Peter  Priggins,  2  (1840). 

Slide — "To  go,  be  gone,  be  off." 

Wyclif  translates  I.  Kings,  20.39:  "Keep  this 
man;  the  which  if  were  slidden  away."  (The 
R.  V.  reads:     "If  he  be  missing."  ) 

Slink — Sneaking  fellow. 

"Ye  were  an  unco  slink." — Mactaggart,  Gallovid. 
Encyc,  398  (1824). 

Slip — 1.  Opening  between  piers;  dock. 

Used  in  England,  in  essentially  the  same  sense, 
from  the  15th  Century. 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  I9I 

2.  Loose  garment  worn  by  women. 
"His  sister  the  princess  dressed  also  in  a  slip  with  hang- 
ing sleeves." — Annual  Register,  228.2  (1761). 

Slop  Over — Be  too  demonstrative. 

The  metaphor  may  be  American;  but  the  verb 
slop  (spill)  is  defined  in  the  Hallamshire  Glos- 
sary. 

Slope — Inclined  surface,  as  "the  Pacific  slope." 
Used  by  Bacon,  "Sylva,"  537  (1626). 

Slosh — Soft  mud. 

Defined  in  Jamieson,  though  he  spells  it  "slush." 

Slouch  in  phrase  "no  slouch" — an  adept. 

The  word  slouch  was  "frequently  used  in  the 
16th  and  17th  Centuries  as  a  term  of  disparage- 
ment  without   precise    significance,"    says   Mur- 
ray. 
Slough — Swamp. 

Traced  back  by  Murray  to  the  very  beginning 
of  the  English  language. 

Slug — To  strike. 

So  defined  in  Robinson's  "Leeds  Dialect." 

Sluice — Pipe  or  trough  for  carrying  water. 

Occurs,  spelled  scluse,  in  "Ayenbite  of  Inwit," 
255  (1340). 

Slut — Substitute  for  candle. 

"Matches  are  maid  after  the  manner  that  maids  make 
sluts." — Butler,  Feminine  Monarchie,  151   (1609). 


192  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Smack — Slap. 

Said  by  Elwyn  to  be  a  Sussex  provincialism. 
Occurs  in  Thackeray,  "Shabby-genteel  Story,"  2 
(1840). 

Smart — Keen,  shrewd,  active. 

Murray  gives  instances  of  the  use  of  this  word 
in  the  "American"  sense  as  far  back  as  1300;  and 
(contrary  to  what  seems  to  be  a  general  impres- 
sion) that  sense  has  never  become  obsolete  in 
Great  Britain.  Charlotte  Bronte  wrote  ("Jane 
Eyre,"  chap.  4) :  "Bessie  was  smart  in  all  she 
did."  In  1899,  an  English  story  called  "The 
Log  of  the  Sea  Waif,"  by  F.  T.  Bullen,  has  the 
sentence:  "We  were  mighty  smart  getting  under 
way."  The  Chicago  News  prints  a  story  from 
Charles  Dickens'  own  lips  in  which  he  speaks  of 
himself  as  telling  a  stranger  who  had  done  a 
foolish  thing  that  he  was  "smart  enough  in  some 
respects."  On  a  single  day  in  London,  I  cut 
from  three  newspapers  evidence  of  present  British 
usage  as  follows:  The  Sunday  Special,  July  17, 
1898,  had  an  advertisement  beginning:  "Smart 
youth  wanted  in  newspaper  office."  The  St. 
James  Gazette,  July  18,  1898,  published  an  ar- 
ticle telling  how  some  bank  robbers  got  off  "by 
being  very  smart";  and  the  Chronicle  of  the  same 
date,  referring  to  the  same  crime,  said  that  "there 
were  two  or  three  smart  thieves  in  league."  What 
sort  of  an  Americanism  is  this? 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  I93 

Smitch — Very  small  quantity. 

Said  by  Murray  to  be  a  Scotch  word. 

Smoke  Stack — Iron  chimney. 

This  would  seem  to  be  merely  an  extension  of 
the  use  of  stack  for  chimney-piece  noted  by  Halli- 
well  as  provincial  in  the  west  of  England.  It 
occurs  in  the  London  Telegraph  of  Aug.  30,  1864, 
which  mentioned  that  a  steamer  had  "her  smoke 
stack  carried  away." 

Smooth — ^Meadow. 

Given  in  "Promptorium  Parvulorum"  as  trans- 
lation of  the  Latin  planities,  which  means  a  piece 
of  level  ground. 

Smouch — Cheat. 

Davies  says  smouch  is  "a  cant  term  for  a  Jew." 
Cobbett  wrote,  in  "Rural  Rides,"  514  (1826): 
"They  smouch,  or  want  to  smouch,  some  of  the 
taxes." 

Snake — Pursue  a  winding  route. 

"Some  of  the  beasts  that  go  snaiken  about  i'  the  dark." 
— Hogg,  Brownie  of  Bodsbeck,  7  (1818). 

Snarl — Tangle . 

Murray  has  citations  from  the  beginning  of  the 
17th  Century. 

Sneaking — Unavowed,  timid,  concealed. 

"I  have  a  sneaking  kindness  for  the  sneaking  fellow." 
— Richardson,  Clarissa  Harlowe,  3.303  (1748). 


194  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Sneeze  in  phrase  "not  to  be  sneezed  at" — not  to  be 
despised. 

"Three  or   four  hundred  pounds   a  year  is  not  to  be 
sneezed  at." — Scott,  in  Lockhart,  Aug.  24,  1813. 

Snide — Counterfeit,  sham,  bogus. 

"Get  ready  for  the  trial  and  look  up  the  snyde  wit- 
nesses."— Cornhill  Magazine,  November,  1862. 

Snip — Contemptible  fellow. 

"This  snip  of  an  attorney." — Massinger,  New  Way,  2.2 
(1625). 

Snippy — Finical. 

Halliwell  says  this  word,  in  the  sense  of  mean, 
is  found  in  various  British  dialects. 

Snowbound. 

"I  have  been  snowbound  for  nearly  a  month." — Leigh 
Hunt,  Autobiography,  2.318  (1814). 

Snug — Projection. 

"All  snugs  and  hubs  and  hills  shall  be  took  away." — 
Bunyan,  Holy  City,  15.107  (1665). 

Soapberry — Kind  of  tree. 

"The    sopeberry    is   properly    a    plum." — Philosophical 
Transactions,  17.621   (1693). 

Soft  (drink) — Not  alcoholic. 

So  defined  in  Antrim  and  Down  Glossary. 

Soft  Soap — Flattery. 

"A  little  soft  soap  will  go  a  long  way  with  him." — 
Tom  Brown  at  Oxford,  32)  (1861). 

SoG — Lethargy. 

Defined  in  West  Cornwall  Glossary. 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  IQj' 

So  Long — Good-bye. 

Clapin  says  this  is  "an  English  provincialism." 

Some — Somewhat. 

"My  well  beloved  is  some  kinder  than  ordinary." — 
Rutherford,  Letters,  1.172  (1636). 

Soon — Early,  as  in  phrase  "soon  in  the  morning." 

The  identical  phrase  quoted  may  be  found  in 
Clough's  "Bothie  of  Tober-na-Vuolich,"  and  may 
be  traced  back,  with  slight  variations,  to  British 
writers  of  the  17th,  16th,  and  even  the  14th,  Cen- 
turies. 

SopsYViNE — Kind  of  apple. 

Corruption  (through  Sopsywine)  of  Sops-in- 
wine,  which  is  as  old  as  Tusser,  "Husbandry," 
96  (1573). 

SoT — Preterite  and  past  participle  of  sit  and  set. 

In  each  case,  survival  of  obsolete  British  use, 
and  in  each  case  still  provincial  in  Great  Britain. 

SOURKROUT. 

Merely  misspelling  of  the  old  German  sauer- 
kraut, which  word  was  brought  to  us,  just  as  we 
have  it  in  pronunciation,  by  immigrants. 

Souse — Preparation  of  certain  parts  of  the  pig. 

Murray  gives  citations  as  far  back  as  the  14th 
Century. 

Southerner. 

"Have  I  told  you  of  the  inconsistencies  of  these  south- 
erners?"— Newman,  Letters,  1.394  (1833). 


196  american    english 

Southron. 

"Wallace  aft  bure  the  gree  frae  Suthron  billies." — 
Burns,  to  William  Simpson,  10  (1785). 

SozzLE — To  splash. 

Defined  in  Moor's  "Suffolk  Words"  (1823), 
Cooper's  Sussex  Glossary  (1836)  and  Robinson's 
Whitby  Glossary  (1876). 

Span  (of  horses) — Pair. 

A  good  Dutch  word,  brought  to  this  country, 
exactly  as  they  had  used  it  abroad,  by  immigrants 
from  Holland. 

Span  Clean — ^Very  clean. 

Chaucer  has  "span  new"  (Troylus,  3,  1665), 
being  clearly  the  same  use  of  span. 

Spanner — Kind  of  wrench. 

Occurs  in  many  British  works  on  mechanical 
subjects,  from  1790  down. 

Spare  Room — Chamber  reserved  for  guests. 

"My  intention  is  to  have  only  two  spare  bedrooms." — 
Scott,  in  Lockhart,  2.11.361  (1811). 

Spat — A  blow. 

Defined  in  Halliwell  as  a  Kentish  provincial- 
ism. 

Specie — Species  (the  latter  word  being  supposed  to 
be  plural,  same  error  as  shay  for  chaise). 

"A  list  of  each  respective  specie." — London  Gazette, 
4874  (1711). 


EXOTIC     AMERICANISMS  I97 

Speck — Trifling  quantity. 

Occurs  in  Fenner's  paraphrase  of  Solomon's 
Song,  1.11  (1587)  where  the  A.  V.  has  studs. 

Specs — Spectacles. 

"Wi'  specs  on  his  nose." — Hogg,  Mountain  Bard 
(1807). 

Spell — To  take  one's  turn  at  work. 

"Every  gentleman  taking  their  turns  to  row  at  to  spell 
one  the  other  at  the  hour's  end." — Raleigh,  Guiana,  44 
(1595). 

Spending-Money. 

"Allowing  them  little  spending-money." — Bernard's 
Terence,  Heauton  Timorumenos,  1.1   (1598). 

Spile — Pile. 

Occurs  in  Douglas'  "^neid,"  9.10.20  (1513). 

Spittoon. 

The  earliest  known  appearance  of  this  word  is 
in  a  St.  Louis  paper  of  1840.  But  Dickens  used 
it  in  "Barnaby  Rudge,"  chap.  10,  1841.  And 
Mrs.  Gaskell  used  it  in  a  letter  descriptive  of  a 

visit  at  the  Brontes'  in  1853 — "a  spittoon,  if  you 
know  what  that  is,"  she  wrote — which  letter  first 
appeared  in  Mr.   Shorter's   introduction  to  the 

Gaskell  Life  of  Charlotte  Bronte  in  the  World's 
Classics  edition  of  "Gaskell's  Works."  It  seems 
almost  certain  that  the  term  is  of  British  origin. 

Splendiferous. 

"Great  and  splendiferous." — G.  Ashby,  Dicta  Philo- 
sophica,  1031  (1460). 


198  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Splorum — Great  and  useless  fuss. 

Merely  variant  of  Burns'  splore,  as  in  "Holy 
Willie,"  13  (1785). 

Splurge. 

Said  to  be  old  English;  see  Nation,  5.428 
(1867). 

Spoils  (of  office). 

Occurs,  in  the  singular  number  but  in  exactly 
the  same  sense,  in  the  "Junius  letters,"  41.232 
(1770). 
Spook — Ghost. 

A  pure  Dutch  word,  brought  to  this  country  by 
Hollanders. 

Sportsman — Gambler. 

"A  sportsman?  Yes;  he  plays  at  Whisk  eight-and- 
forty  hours  together." — Farquhar,  Beaux'  Stratagem,  1.1 
(1706). 

Spouty  (land) — Full  of  springs. 

"I  find  it  thrive  in  spouty  ground." — Earl  Haddington, 
Forest  Trees,  6   (1705). 

Spread — Repast. 

•    "Spreads  on  the  grass  for  the  better  sort  of  people." — 
Gentleman's  Magazine,  92.1.31  (1822). 

Spread  Eagle. 

According  to  Ellis,  Early  English  Pronuncia- 
tion, 1.46,  there  was  a  Spread-Eagle  Court  in 
London  in  1704. 

Spree — Carouse. 

Defined  in  Moor's  Suffolk  Glossary. 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  IQQ 

Sprout — Twig. 

Murray  gives  citation  of  1300. 

Spruce — Kind  of  tree. 

"For  masts,  those  of  Prussia,  which  we  call  spruce,  are 
the  hest"— Evelyn,  Sylva,  22.103  (1670). 

Spruce  Beer. 

"Many  shall  have  more  spruce  beer  in  their  bellies  than 
wit  in  their  heads." — Nashe,  Prognostication,  11   (1591). 

Spruced  Up — Well  dressed. 

"Salmacis  would  not  be  seen  till  she  had  spruced  up." 
— Anatomy  of  Melancholy,  3.2.4.1    (1621). 

Squaddy — Short  and  fat. 

"He  was  a  fat,  squaddy  monk." — Rich,  Greenes  News 
G.3  (1593). 

Squail — To  throw  something  so  as  to  make  it  skim 
the  ground. 

Davies  has  "Squail,  to  throw  at  cocks." 

Square — 1.  Unqualified. 

"Fit  to  direct  himself  with   the   square   rules   of   wis- 
dom:'—Lithgow,  Travels,  5.199   (1632). 

2.  Open  space  at  junction  of  streets,  not  neces- 
sarily square  in  form. 

So  used  in  London  from  time  immemorial. 

3.  In  phrase  "on  the  square,"  meaning  truth- 
ful, honest. 

"She's  a  most  triumphant  lady  if  report  be  square  to 
her." — Antony  and  Cleopatra,  2.2  (1608). 


200  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Squash — A  vegetable. 

Only  American  in  application  to  a  particular 
plant.     See  "Twelfth  Night,"  1.5.166. 

Squatter — Settler  on  land  to  which  he  has  no  title. 

Possibly  of  American  origin,  but  according  to 
Stormonth  an  Australian  term. 

Squeaky — Creaky. 

"The  loud,  squeaky  voice." — Miss  Yonge,  Countess 
Kate,  12.133  (1862). 

Squeal — Betray  a  confederate. 

So  defined  in  the  (British)  Slang  Dictionary. 

Squib — Speak  sarcastically  or  contemptuously. 

"For  squibbing  and  declaiming  against  many  arts." — 
G.  Harvey,  Letters,  1.80  (1579). 

Squinny — Broad  laugh. 

The  word  occurs,  though  not  precisely  in  this 
signification,  in  various  English  glossaries. 

Stag — Rascal,  ready  to  lie  for  a  consideration. 

"Queer  bail  are  stag,  men  hired  at  a  guinea  or  two  to 
swear  they  are  worth  vast  sums." — Jon  Bee,  Dictionary  of 
Turf  (1823). 

Stag  Party — One  consisting  exclusively  of  men. 

"Stag,"  in  the  sense  of  male,  is  traced  back  by  Murray 
to  the  beginning  of  the  17th  Century. 

Stale — Handle. 

Used  to  translate  the  Latin  ansa  in  "Sidonius 
Glosses"  (1200). 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  201 

Stanchel — Stanchion. 

Occurs  in  Register  of  Privy  Council  of  Scot- 
land, 4.95  (1586). 

Stand  in  Hand — Behoove,  concern.     "It  stands  him 
in  hand  to  be  careful." 

"I  take  no  reward  of  other  men's  case,  but  only  of  my 
own,  that  stand  me  most  in  hand." — Beryn,  3173  (1400). 

Star — Popular  performer. 

"The  little  stars,  who  hid  their  diminished  rays  in  his 
(Garrick's)  presence,  began  to  abuse  him." — Warner, 
Selwyn,  4.30  (1779). 

Statehouse — Capitol. 

"Pacuvius  locked  the  senators  within  the  statehouse." — 
Raleigh,  History  of  World,  2.23 A  (1614). 

Stateroom  (on  ship). 

"The  glance  thrown  round  the  little  staterooms"  (on 
packet  that  took  her  across  the  sea). — Mrs.  Trollope,  Man- 
ners of  Americans,  34  (1832). 

Station  House — Place  of  temporary  confinement. 

"Tell  them  of  hunger,  the  station  house  and  the  pawn- 
broker's."— Dickens,  Newgate  (1836). 

Stay-at-Home — Fond  of  domestic  life. 

"The  alarm  pictured  by  stay-at-home  travellers." — G. 
Pinckhard,  West  Indies,  3.342  (1806). 

Step-Ladder. 

"Step-ladders  were  fixed  against  the  wall." — History 
of  New  Forest,  49  (1751). 

Stick — ^Log. 

Murray  has  a  citation  of  the  year  1200. 


202  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Stick-in-the-Mud — Slow,  inert  man. 

May  have  originated  in  the  United  States,  but 
occurs  in  "Tom  Brown  at  Oxford,"  chap.  10. 
Stinkard. 

"Out,  thou  stinkard,  man's  grand  enemy." — Timon, 
12.6  (1600). 

Stinkstone. 

"Stinkstone  color  is  wood  brown." — Jamieson,  Mineral- 
ogy, 1.521  (1804). 

Stinkweed. 

"Farmers  have  given  it  the  name  of  stinkweed." — Old 
Country  Words  (1793). 

Stitch — To  form  land  into  ridges. 

"They  were  run  through  with  the  potato  harrow  and 
made  flat  before  they  could  be  stitched  up  again." — Trans. 
Society  of  Arts,  23.31  (1805). 

Stive — To  make  hot,  sultry. 

Halliwell  has  "stived,  baked  hard." 

Stock — To  supply  a  farm  with  necessities. 

"He  has  bought  the  great  farm  and  stocked  it." — 
Fletcher,  Prophetess,  5.3  (1622). 

Stock  (short  for  live  stock) — Cattle. 

"It  is  convenient  that  he  rear  two  sow  calves  to  uphold 
his  stock." — Fitzherbert,  Husbandry,  39    (1523). 

Stock  and  Fluke — Including  everything. 

"The  owner  of  the  estate  bought  it  stock  and  fluke." — 
Cobbett,  Rural  Rides,  2.5  (1825). 

Stocking  Feet — Without  shoes. 

"This  phrase,"  says  Davies,  "is  not  peculiar  to  Scot- 
land," implying  that  it  is  common  in  that  country. 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  203 

Stocky — Short  and  stout. 

Listed  by  Halliwell  as  a  West-of-England  pro- 
vincialism. 

Stomp — Mispronunciation  of  stamp. 

"In  gallant  procession  the  priests  mean  to  stomp." — 
Browning,  Englishman  in  Italy,  272  (1845). 

Stoop — Steps  at  entrance  of  a  house. 
A  pure  Dutch  word. 

Stop — Remain  for  a  while. 

"They  wanted  her  to  let  Miss  stop  with  them." — Ben- 
nett, Beggar  Girl,  5.37  (1797). 

Store — Place  where  goods  are  sold,  called  in  Eng- 
land a  shop. 

Who  ever  heard  the  Army  and  Navy  Stores  in 
London  called  the  Army  and  Navy  shops  ? 

Storm — To  rain  or  snow. 

Murray  says  this  use  of  the  word  is  "now" 
peculiar  to  the  United  States,  implying  that  it  was 
formerly  common  in  England. 

Stovepipe — Funnel . 

(The  plants)  "placed  nearer  or  farther  from  the  stove- 
pipes enjoy  the  degrees  of  warmth  most  agreeable  to  them." 
— Evelyn,  Horticulture,  165  (1699). 

Stowaway — Clandestine  passenger. 

"He  had  been  seized  as  a  stowaway." — Annual  Regis- 
ter, 191  (1854). 

Strain — Sprain. 

"I  am  not  able  to  ride,  by  reason  of  a  strain." — Feuil- 
lerat,  Revels  of  Queen  Mary,  251  (1558). 


204  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Strand — 1.  Landing  place. 

Murray  gives  citation  of  1205. 

2.  A  fibre. 

"One  of  its  strands  is  broken." — Falconer,  Marine  Dic- 
tionary (1815). 

Streak — 1.  Vein  or  turn,  applied  to  mental  peculi- 
arities. 

"Broad  streaks  of  folly  now  and  then  appear  through 
the  wisdom." — Annual  Register,  32,  1762, 

2.  Layer,  as  in  meat,  fat  and  lean. 

"Marble  having  white  streaks  in  it." — Higins,  Junius' 
Nomenclature,  414  (1585), 

Stretch,  in  phrase  "on  a  stretch,"  continuously. 

"So  continued  battering  upon  a  stretch  till  five  in  the 
afternoon." — London  Gazette,  2451.3   (1689). 

Strike — 1.  Instrument  with  straight  edge. 

"We  have  a  strike  to  run  over  the  mould,  to  make  the 
bricks  smooth." — Houghton,  Improvement  Husbandry, 
2.6.188  (1683). 

2.  In  phrase  "by  the  strike,"  level  measure. 
"Usage  hath  continued  measure  by  heap,  though  some 
statutes  order  it  by  strike." — Jeake,  Arithmetic,  70  (1674). 

Stuck  Up — Haughty. 

"They  are  stuck-up  gods  and  goddesses." — Edinburgh 
Review,  L.,  245  (1829). 

Stump — Part  of  tree  remaining  in  ground  after  cut- 
ting. 

"Stump  of  a  tree  hewn  down." — Promptorium  Parvu- 
lorum,  481.1  (1440). 


EXOTIC     AMERICANISMS  205 

Stunner — Anything  astounding. 

"Here  was  a  new  stunner." — Jane  Eyre,  iZ   (1847). 

Stunning — Astounding. 

"A  hubbub  of  stunning  sounds." — Paradise  Lost,  2.952 
(1667). 

Stunt — An  allotted  task;  a  performance. 

Merely  a  variant  of  the  old  English  stent, 
staint  or  stant,  entered  with  many  references  in 
the  (British)  Dialectical  Dictionary. 

Sub-Base — Mopboard,  washboard. 

"(The  screen)  of  St.  Mark  is  open  above  the  sub- 
base." — Pugin,  Chancel  Screens,  29  (1851). 

Sub-Treasurer. 

"The  worthy  sub-treasurer  would  have  been  puzzled." 
— Lamb,  Elia,  Old  Benchers  (1821). 

Sucker — 1.  Tube  for  sucking. 

"The  oil  was  separated  from  the  water  by  means  of  a 
sucker." — Thomson,  Organic  Chemistry,  602  (1838). 

2.  A  fish. 

The  "sucker"  or  "suck  fish,"  Remora,  is  de- 
scribed in  the  1753  Supplement  to  Chambers' 
Cyclopedia. 

3.  Mean,  low  fellow;  "sponger." 

"Flatterers  of  the  king,  suckers  of  his  purse." — Hall, 
Chronicle,  Henry  VI,  151    (1548). 

Suicide,  verb. 

"This  new  and  barbarous  form,  having  ob- 
tained considerable  currency  in  America,  has  un- 
fortunately  made   its    way   to    England,"    says 


206  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Farmer.  There  is  nothing  barbarous  about  using 
any  English  noun  as  a  verb ;  and  the  oldest  known 
instance  of  such  use  of  the  noun  suicide  occurs  in 
Lever's  "O'Malley,"  22.171,  published  nearly 
fifty  years  earlier  than  Farmer's  citation  from  a 
St.  Louis  newspaper  of  1888. 

Suit — "A  set,  a  supply,"  says  Thornton,  instancing  a 
suit  of  sails,  a  suit  of  curtains  and  so  on.  One 
of  Murray's  definitions  is  "a  number  of  objects  of 
the  same  kind  or  pattern  intended  to  be  used  to- 
gether or  forming  a  definite  set,"  with  citation  of 
1408,  "a  suit  of  trees." 

Sulky — Light  two-wheeled  vehicle. 

"A  female  in  a  sulky,  pleased  with  having  the  whole 
vehicle  to  herself." — Connoisseur,  112 A   (1756). 

Summarize. 

"We  may  summarize  the  natural  sources  of  energy." — 
Sir  W.  Thomson,  Nature,  244  (1881). 

Summons,  verb. 

"He's   come   to   summons   us   home." — Franck,   North. 
Mem.,  34  (1568). 

Sun  Bonnet. 

"Bessie   had   put   on   her   sun   bonnet." — Miss    Yonge, 
Stokesley  Secret,  2  (1860). 

Sunshade — Parasol. 

"Pavonian  canopy  of  azure  held  in  manner  of  a  sun- 
shade."—5ai;e;v,  Festus,  506  (1852). 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  207 

SuPAWN — "Hasty  pudding,"  cornmeal  boiled  soft. 

Possibly  only  special  application  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  supan,  soup. 

Supplejack. 

"He  bestowed  on  me  several  stripes  with  a  supplejack." 
— Roderick  Random,  24   (1748). 

Sure — Surely. 

"Sure  who  hope  in  thee  shall  never  suffer  shame." — 
Sidney,  Ps.,  25.2  (1586). 

Surrogate. 

"Surrogate,  a  deputy." — Cowdrey's  Dictionary   (1604). 

Surveyor. 

"Searchers,  controllers  and  surveyors  of  searches." — 
Rolls  of  Parliament,  5.54  (1442). 

Susceptible. 

"Blow  with  empty  words  the  susceptible  flame." — Prior, 
Henry  and  Emma,  5.19  (1709). 

Suspenders — Supports  for  trousers. 

Davies  lists  this  as  a  British  provincialism  for 
"braces." 

Suspicion,  verb. 

"Suspicioning  of  himself." — N.  Ferrar,  Considerations, 
310  (1637). 

Swamp — Plunge  into  difficulties. 

Merely  a  metaphorical  use  of  an  old  word, 
freely  employed  as  a  verb  in  England  at  least  as 
early  as  the  17  th  century. 


2o8  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Swash — Narrow  sound. 

Defined  in  Phillips'  "World  of  Words,"  1706. 

Swat — Strike. 

"To  swat  a  person's  brains  out." — Pegge,  Derhicisms 
(1796). 

SwiNGLETREE — Singletree. 

"The  horses  must  have  a  swingletree  to  hold  the  traces." 
— Fitzherbert,  Husbandry,  15   (1523). 

Switch  of  a  railroad  track. 

"A  stop  to  prevent  the  switch  from  flying  out  too  far." 
— Curr,  Coal  Viewer,  27  (1797). 

Syren — Fog  horn. 

"The  syren,  a  new  acoustical  instrument." — Annual  Reg- 
ister, 2.1364  (1820). 

Systemize — Systematize. 

"He  continued  to  systemize  what  he  thought  worthy  of 
his  system." — W.  Marshall,  Minutes  of  Agriculture,  Di- 
gest, 2  (1778). 

T 

Tabby  Cat. 

"A  devil  in  the  shape  of  a  tabby  cat." — Congreve,  Love 
for  Love,  2.3  (1695). 

Tabernacle — Place  of  worship,  differentiated  from  a 
church. 

"The  Bishop  of  Lincoln  preached  in  the  tabernacle  near 
Golden  Square." — Evelyn,  Diary,  Feb.  19,  1693. 

Table — To  lay  on  the  table. 

"Provost  Campbell's  appeal  was  tabled." — Wodrow 
Correspondence,  3. 245  (1726). 


EXOTIC     AMERICANISMS  209 

Tacker — Small  child. 

Defined  in  English  Dialect  Dictionary. 

Taffy — Kind  of  candy. 

Defined  in  Cheshire  Glossary. 

Tag — Game  played  by  touching. 

"In  Queen  Mary's  reign,  tag  was  all  the  play." — Gen- 
tleman's Magazine,  8.80   (1738). 

Tailings — Refuse,  culls. 

"For  a  bushel  of  best  wheat  they  pay  7s.,  for  first  tail- 
ings 6s." — London  Times,  Aug.  24,  1846. 

Take  Down — Humiliate. 

"She  had  spoken  to  Constance  and  taken  her  down." — 
Child  Marriages,  1.12  (1562). 

Take  Up — Arrest. 

"Though  the  sheriff  have  authority  to  take  up  all  such 
stragglers." — Spenser,  State  of  Ireland,  Works,  679 
(1596). 

Taking — Excitement. 

"Valens  was  in  a  sore  taking." — Hanmer,  Ecclesiastical 
History,  317   (1577). 

Talk — Conference. 

"They  came  to  talks  and  night  meetings." — Bale,  Eng- 
lish Votaries,  2.88  (1550). 

Tangent  in  phrase  "to  fly  off  on  a  tangent." 

"Having  twelve  times  described  this  circle,  he  flew  off 
at  a  tangent." — Smollett,  Humphrey  Clinker,  219  (1771). 

Tangle-Leg — Intoxicating  liquor. 

"Leg   tangler"   in   the   same   sense   occurs   in 
Punch,  July  26,  1862. 


210  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Tarnal — Eternal . 

Defined  in  Craven  Glossary. 

Tarve — Turn,  bend. 

"Apparently,"  says  Murray,  "the  same  as  tarf" 
which  word  occurs  in  the  "Rates  of  Customs" 
published  1545. 

Tavern — Drinking  place,  inn. 

"The  tavern  is  the  school  of  the  devil." — Ayenbite  of  In- 
wit,  56  (1340). 

Team — Party  acting  together,  as  in  a  contest. 

"Hear  me,  my  little  team  of  villains." — Massinger  and 
Dekker,  Virgin  Martyr,  4.2  (1622). 

Teetotally. 

Possibly  of  American  invention,  but  the  earliest 
known  use  is  in  1832,  only  seven  years  before 
De  Quincey  used  the  word  ("Roman  Meals," 
"Works,"  3.277),  and  it  seems  improbable  that 
the  English  writer  got  it  from  the  United  States. 

Telephone. 

"Capt.  Taylor's  telephone  instrument." — London  Times, 
July  19,  1844. 

Tell — Saying,  story. 

"I  am  at  the  end  of  my  tell." — Walpole,  Letter  to  Mann, 
July  29,  1742. 

Tell  Good-Bye. 

One  of  Murray's  definitions  of  tell  is  "to  utter, 
say  over,  recite,  say,"  with  citations  from  the  14th 
Century. 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  211 

Tend — Attend. 

Defined  in  Halliwell. 

Tenpins — Game  of  bowls. 

"To    play    at   tenpins." — Rowlands,    Letting   Humor's 
Blood,  4.64  (1600). 

Terret — Ring  holding  rein;  "turret." 

Defined,  under  spelling  tyret,  in  Bailey  (1724). 

That — So.     "I  was  that  tired." 

"If  I  had  been  that  unhappy  as  to  have  such  a  foolish 
thing:'— Russell,  Haigs,  7.160  (1616). 

Thereaway — In  that  region. 

"There  be  few  wars  thereaway." — R.  Robinson,  More's 
Utopia,  2.253  (1551). 

Thirds — Widow's  dower. 

"The  wife  was  defrauded  of  her  thirds." — Bacon,  Use 
of  Law,  Works,  1.585  (1596). 

Thrash  Round. 

"(A   whale)   thrashed   and  rolled   about   in   agony." — 
Scoresby,  Whaleman's  Adventures,  5.74   (1850). 

Thrip — Petty  coin. 

Obviously  means  threepence.     "Threpps"  is  so 
defined  in  Dictionary  of  Canting  Crew  (1700). 

Throw  Up — Vomit. 

"Judge  of  the  cause  by  the  substances  which  the  pa- 
tient throws  up." — Arbuthnot,  Rules  of  Diet,  3  (1732). 

Thwart — Seat  in  rowboat. 

Defined  in  Bailey  (1736). 

Tidy — Protecting  cover  for  furniture. 

Defined,  in  sense  only  slightly  different,  as  "a 


212  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

light  outer  covering  worn  by  children  to  keep  their 
clothes  from  dirt,"  in  Forby's  "East  Anglia  Vo- 
cabulary" (1825). 

Tidy  Up — Put  in  order. 

"I  mean  to  have  it  tidied  up  this  summer." — Miss  Mit- 
ford,  in  L' Estrange  Life,  2.127  (1821). 

Tie — Equal  number  on  each  side;  match. 

"If  each  win  a  trick,  and  the  third  tied,  neither  win." — 
Cotton,  Gamester,  15.93   (1680). 

Tie — Bar  holding  railroad  track;  "sleeper." 

Only  special  application  of  word  used  in  Eng- 
land for  centuries  in  architectural  writings. 

Tie  Up — ^Make  fast. 

"Death  ties  up  my  tongue." — Romeo  and  Juliet,  4.5.32 
(1592). 

Tight — Drunk. 

"For  the  word  drunk  I  find  of  slang  equivalents  half- 
seas-over,  far  gone,  tight." — Household  Words,  Sept.  24, 
1853. 

Tile— Hat. 

"The  boy  threw  up  his  tile." — Spirit  of  Public  Journals, 
55  (1823). 

Timber — ^Woodland. 

"Timber  is  part  of  the  inheritance." — Blackstone,  Com- 
mentaries, 2.18.6.281  (1766). 

Time  in  phrase  "a  good  time." 

"I  had  as  good  a  time  as  heart  could  wish." — Pepys' 
Diary,  March  1,  1666. 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  213 

Tinker — Kind  of  fish. 

"Skate,  blue  skate  and  gray  skate,  tinker." — Yarrell, 
British  Fishes,  2.421   (1836). 

Tinner — Worker  in  tinned  iron. 

Given  in  Cotgrave  as  translation  of  estaignier 
(1611). 

Tipple — Intoxicating  liquor. 

"Of  pleasant  wine  their  tipple  in  they  take." — Hall, 
Iliad,  10.165   (1581). 

TiPPYBOBS — The  wealthy  classes. 

I  never  heard  the  word;   but  tippy,  meaning 
fine,  is  in  Brockett. 

Tiptop — Summit;  the  very  best. 

Defined  in  Moor's  Suffolk  Glossary. 

Tithing  Man — Civil  Officer. 

"Tithing  man,  the  chief  man  of  the  free  pledges." — 
Lambarde,  Eirenarcha,   1.3    (1581). 

To  misused  for  at  or  in.     "I  haven't  been  to  Wash- 
ington for  a  year." 

Noticed  in  Halliwell  as  a  Devonshire  provin- 
cialism. 

TOADEISH. 

"The  todefish  will  swell  till  it  be  like  to  burst."— Ca^J. 
Smith,  Virginia,  15  (1612). 

ToDDY — Alcoholic  drink. 

"Excessive  drinking  of  toddy." — Foster,  English  Fac- 
tories in  India,  185  (1620). 


214  american    english 

Toe  the  Mark. 

Only  slight  variation  of  Marryat's  "toe  the 
line,"  "Peter  Simple,"  9  (1833). 

Tom  Dog,  Tom  Turkey. 

Tom,  meaning  male,  and  long  familiar  in  its 
most  common  combination,  tomcat,  is  applied  to 
various  other  animals  and  to  birds  in  several 
glossaries  of  British  dialects. 

Too  Thin,  said  of  subterfuge  or  pretence — Trans- 
parent. 

"This  pretext  was  too  thin  to  impose  upon  her  lover." — 
Smollett,  Peregrine  Pickle,  26   (1751). 

Toot — Spree. 

Defined    in    glossary    to    "Shirrefs'    Poems" 
(1790). 

ToPHET — Hell. 

Occurs  frequently  in  the  Authorized  Version  of 
the  Old  Testament. 

ToPSAWYER — Man  of  consequence. 

Defined  in  Grose  as  Norfolk  slang. 

ToRTLE — ^Move  like  a  turtle. 

Tortle  is  obsolete  form  of  turtle;  and  the  use 
of  a  noun  as  a  verb  has  always  been  allowable  in 
English. 

Tote — Total;  all  there  is. 

"My  bill,  what  is  the  tote?"— Foote,  Cozeners,  3 
(1774). 


EXOTIC     AMERICANISMS  215 

Touch — Get  money  from. 

"I  am  quite  broke  up;  his  grace  has  touched  me  for  five 
hundred." — C.  Johnston,  Chrysal,  2 AS   (1760). 

ToUCH-AND-Go. 

"We  may  taste  it  to  bring  on  appetite,  let  it  be  but  a 
touch  and  go." — Moufet  and  Bennet,  Health's  Improve- 
ment, 59  (1655). 

Touch-Me-Not — A  plant. 

Given    as    synonym    of    cucumis  asinimus   in 
Gerarde's  "Herbal,"  2.327.76  (1597). 

Tow — That  which  is  towed. 

Murray  gives  citation  from  one  of  Lord  Nel- 
son's despatches,  which  speaks  of  "securing  the 
masts  and  tow." 

Town — District,  not  implying  houses. 

"By  the  name  of  a  town,  a  manor  may  pass." — Coke  on 
Littleton,  1.5   (1628). 

Townhouse — 1.  House    where    public    business    is 
transacted. 

So  used  in  England  from  the  16th  Century. 

2.  A  house  in  town. 

"I  have  no  other  town  house." — Hook,  Man  of  Many 
Friends,  1.284  (1825). 

Township. 

"To  assess  every  township  with  the  said  hundreds." — 
Rolls  of  Parliament,  5.111   (1444). 

TowROW — Racket. 

Defined  in  Holderness  Glossary. 


2l6  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Trace — Track  or  trail. 

"Men  might  well  follow  him  by  the  trace." — Caxton, 
Sons  of  Aymon,  9.238  (1489). 

Track  of  railroad. 

"The  width  of  each  track   (of  the  Surrey  railway)   is 
53^  ieeV'—Rees,  Cyclopedia,  s.  v.  Canal  (1805). 

Track — Trail,  footsteps. 

"Might  I  find  the  track  of  his  horse." — Malory,  Ar- 
thur, 10.14.435   (1470). 

Trail — Track ;  mark  where  man  or  beast  has  passed. 

"This    is    an    aspic's   trail." — Antony    and    Cleopatra, 
5.2.352  (1608). 

Trainers — Militia  assembled  for  drill. 

Murray  gives  British  citation  of  1581. 

Training-Day. 

"As  he  passed  by  my  window  the  last  training-day." — 
Wycherley,  Plaindealer,  2.1   (1676). 

Tramp — Strolling  vagabond. 

Halliwell  says  this  word  in  the  sense  given  oc- 
curs in  "various  dialects"  of  England.     De  Quin- 
cey  notes  ("Confessions,"  1.147)  that  it  is  used 
"in  solemn  acts  of  Parliament." 

Trampoos — To  tramp. 

"I'd  teach  'em  to  bring  a  gentleman's  son  tramboozing 
about  the  country."— O'X^efe,  Wild  Oats,  2.3   (1798). 

Transient — ^Lodger  for  only  a  day  or  two. 

This  American  use  differs  only  very  slightly 
from  that  of  Sparks,  "Primer  of  Devotions,"  279 
(1652). 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  217 

Traps — Clothing,  baggage,  goods. 

Defined  in  Halliwell. 
Trash — Leaves  of  sugarcane. 

Only  special  and  natural  application  of  an  old 
term,  used  in  England  to  signify  rubbish  since  at 
least  the  middle  of  the  16th  Century. 

Treat — Give  refreshments,  especially  liquor. 

Murray  gives  citation  of  1500.  Davies  defines 
"treating-house,  a  restaurant." 

Trimmings — Accessories,  decorations. 

"Must  this  pomp,  this  attire,  this  beauty  be  the  trim- 
mings?"— Long,  Barclay's  Argents,  4.5.255  '(1625). 

Troll — Method  of  fishing. 

"Consider  how  God  by  his  preachers  trowleth  for  thee." 
— S.  Gardiner,  Book  of  Angling,  28  (1606). 

Trot  Out — Bring  forward. 

"His  guest,  to  be  trotted  out  before  all  the  rest  of  the 
company." — Lytton,  Alice,  7.3   (1838). 

Truck — Two  wheeled  vehicle  for  carrying  goods.' 
"Any  truck  or  cart,  sledge  wagon,  dray." — Hull  Dock 
Act,  46  (1774). 

Trump  used  metaphorically. 

"The  best  intentions  form  all  mankind's  trump  cards." 
— Byron,  Don  Juan,  8.25  (1822). 

Try  On — Attempt. 

"Try  on,  to  endeavor." — Lexicon  Balatronicum  (1811). 

Tumble  or  Tumble  To — Understand. 

"The  high  words  we  call  jawbreakers,  and  say  we  can't 


2l8  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

tumble  to  that  barrikin." — Mayhew,  London  Labor,  1.15 
(1851). 

Turfman — Man  fond  of  attending  races. 

"I  never  was  a  turfman." — Sporting  Magazine,   2.214 
(1818). 

Turnip — Watch. 

"The  turnip  showed  him  he  had  not  time  to  lose." — 
Verdant  Green,  1.6  (1853). 

Turret  Ship. 

"Turretted  ships"  are  mentioned  in  Whewell's  History 
Inductive  Sciences,  1.189   (1837). 

TuRTLER — Turtle  catcher. 

"The    Jamaica    turtlers    have    such    nets." — Dam  pier, 
Voyages,  1.395   (1679). 

Tussle — Contest. 

"We  present  Hugh  Houghton  for  a  tussle  upon  Ballive 
Cantrell." — Edinburgh  Municipal  Records,  1.232   (1629). 

Tyke — Troublesome  child. 

Meant  originally  a  dog,  but  was  applied  to  per- 
sons as  early  as  the  15th  century. 

U 

Underpinning. 

Defined  by  Halliwell  as  pediment  on  which  the 
frame  of  a  house  is  placed. 

Unfeeling. 

"Unfeeling   fools   can   with   such   wrongs   dispense." — 
Comedy  of  Errors,  2.1.103  (1593). 


EXOTIC     AMERICANISMS  219 

V 

Valinch — Liquor  sampler. 

Defined  (under  valentia)  in  Moor's  "Suffolk 
Words,"  1823. 

Vendibility. 

"The  vendibility  of  commodities." — Jeremy  Taylor, 
Ductor,  4.1  (1660). 

Vendue — Auction. 

"Clothes  purchased  at  a  vendue." — Roderick.  Random, 
36  (1748). 

w 

Weaken. 

"Their  hands  shall  be  weakened  from  the  work  that  it 
be  not  done." — Nehemiah,  6.9   (A.  V.,  1611). 

Well — ^Meaningless  prefix  to  a  sentence. 

"Then  said  Daniel  unto  him,  'Well,  thou  hast  also 
lied.'  " — Susanna,  Apocryphal  addition  to  Book  of  Dan- 
iel (1611). 

"Well,  the  delightful  day  will  come." — Samuel  Medley 
(1789). 

Occurs  so  frequently  in  Shakespeare  that  the 
references  are  not  listed  in  the  Cowden  Clarke 
concordance.  Freely  used  also  by  modern  British 
writers — Beaconsfield,  Emily  Bronte,  Anthony 
Trollope,  Dickens,  George  Eliot,  and  others.  It 
is  about  as  much  of  an  Americanism  as  is  any 
imaginable  use  of  the  word  guess. 


220  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Wheal — Swelling . 

Only  a  variant  of  Shakespeare's  weal,  as  in 

"Macbeth,"  3.4.76 — "Ere  human  statute  purged 

the  gentle  weal." 
Whelk — Sore,  pustule. 

"His  face  is  all  bubuckles  and  whelks  and  knobs." — 
King  Henry  V .,  3.6.111  (1600). 

Wide  Awake — On  the  alert. 

Possibly  first  used  in  America,  but  you  will  find 
it  in  "The  Newcomes,"  chap.  20,  and  in  "Sketches 
by  Boz,"  Chap  10,  Watkins  Tuttle.  In  any  event, 
there  is  nothing  peculiar  in  using  the  phrase  in 
the  sense  defined. 

WiDE-AwAKE — Kind  of  hat. 

"He  has  found  a  wide-awake  cooler  than  an  iron  ket- 
tle."— Charles  Kingsley,  Two  Years  Ago,  Introduction 
(1856). 

Wisdom  Tooth — ^Molar  last  to  appear. 

"He's  not  cut  his  wisdom  teeth  yet." — Mrs.  Gaskell, 
Sylvia's  Lovers,  21. 

Wolfish — Savage.     "A  western  word,"  says  Bart- 
lett. 

"Thy  desires  are  wolfish." — Merchant  of  Venice,  4.1. 
138. 

Woodsman. 

Only   a   variant   of   Shakespeare's   woodman, 
"Measure  for  Measure,"  4.3.174. 
Worrisome. 

Defined  ("troublesome")  by  Davies. 


EXOTIC     AMERICANISMS  22 1 

WuNST — Once. 

Characterized  by  a  writer  in  Harper's  Monthly 
(66.665)  as  a  Sussex  provincialism. 

Y 

Yank — Jerk. 

Skeat  says  this  word  "was  carried  from  the 
north  of  England  or  Scotland  to  America." 

Yellow  Jack — Yellow  fever. 

"His  elder  brother  died  of  yellow-jack  in  the  West  In- 
dies.''—Dombey  &  Son,  10  (1847). 


SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTE 

Our  British  critic,  Mr.  Whibley,  whose  statement 
to  the  effect  that  only  three  words  generally  counted 
as  Americanisms  are  really  of  old  English  origin  is 
quoted  at  the  head  of  this  chapter,  adds  some  other 
remarks  ("American  Sketches,"  page  215)  which  it 
seems  more  convenient  to  treat  separately.  They  are 
these :  . 

"That  a  country  which  makes  a  constant  boast  of  its  prac- 
tical intelligence  should  delight  in  long,  flat,  cumbrous  collec- 
tions of  syllables  such  as  locate,  operate,  antagonize,  transpor- 
tation, commutation  and  proposition,  is  an  irony  of  civilization. 
These  words,  if  words  they  may  be  called,  are  hideous  to  the 
eye,  offensive  to  the  ear,  and  inexpressive  to  the  mind.  They 
are  the  base  coins  of  language.  They  are  put  upon  the  street 
!   fresh  from  some  smasher's  den." 


222  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

It  will  be  observed  that  Mr.  Whibley  raises  no  point 
about  any  American  misuse  of  any  of  these  "collec- 
tions of  syllables";  his  objection  is  to  our  using  them 
at  all,  and  rests  on  his  supposing  that  they  are  very 
recently  invented  (invented  by  Americans,  he  seems 
to  think,  but  that  is  not  material)  and  that  they  have 
no  sort  of  authority  in  their  favor;  he  questions 
whether  they  should  be  called  English  words!  The 
fact  is,  every  one  of  them  has  been  in  use  in  Eng- 
land for  decades,  all  but  one  of  them  for  centuries. 
That  one  is  transportation,  which  may  not  be  older 
than  1776,  but  certainly  appeared  in  that  year  in 
Adam  Smith's  "Wealth  of  Nations,"  Book  1,  Chap. 
11.  Locate  occurs  in  Lord  Stair's  "Institutions  of 
the  Laws  of  Scotland,"  1.15  (1681),  antagonize  in 
Sir  Thomas  Herbert's  "Travels,"  211  (1634),  operate 
in  "Troilus  and  Cressida,"  5.3.108  (1606),  commu- 
tation in  Hawes'  "Pastime  of  Pleasure,"  10.5  (1509), 
proposition  in  Wyclif's  "Exodus,"  25.30  (1382). 
They  have  been  used  in  England,  without  falling  at 
all  into  disfavor,  ever  since  the  dates  given,  down  to 
the  present  time,  as  quotations  of  the  present  century 
could  easily  be  given  to  prove.  The  fact  that  Mr. 
Whibley  seems  to  have  taken  a  queer  and  inexplicable 
dislike  to  them,  is  really  of  no  sort  of  consequence  to 
anybody  but  perhaps  himself. 

A  case  of  similar  blundering  is  to  be  found  on  page 
24  of  the  Messrs.  Fowler's  "The  King's  English," 
where  the  reader  is  exhorted  to  make  "a  very  firm 


EXOTIC      AMERICANISMS  223 

stand"  against  three  "American  verbs"  that  illustrate 
the  "barbaric  taste"  that  prevails  in  the  United  States. 
These  dreadful  American  inventions  are  placate, 
which  was  used  by  Cudworth,  in  "Intellectual  Sys- 
tem," 1.4,  published  in  1678;  antagonize,  which  is 
defined  in  Bailey's  Dictionary,  1742;  and  transpire, 
for  which  Murray  gives  a  string  of  citations,  running 
in  date  from  1597  to  1908.  It  really  does  appear, 
as  some  writer  has  expressed  it,  that  when  an  Eng- 
lishman dislikes  a  word,  he  is  very  likely  to  call  it 
an  Americanism  and  think  that  settles  it. 


CHAPTER  FOUR 
SOME  REAL  AMERICANISMS 

"And  you  may  have  a  pretty  considerable  good  sort  of  a 
feeble  notion  that  it  don't  fit  nohow;  and  that  it  ain't  calcu- 
lated to  make  you  smart  overmuch;  and  that  you  don't  feel 
special  bright,  and  by  no  means  first  rate,  and  not  at  all 
tonguey;  and  that,  however  rowdy  you  may  be  by  natur',  it 
does  use  you  up  com-plete,  and  that's  a  fact;  and  makes  you 
quake  considerable,  and  disposed  toe  damn  the  engine — all 
which  phrases,  I  beg  to  add,  are  pure  Americanisms  of  the 
first  water." — Charles  Dickens,  Letter  to  John  Forster. 

The  present  writer  is  not  quite  old  enough  to  re- 
member the  time  of  the  great  English  novelist's  first 
visit  to  the  United  States;  and  therefore  cannot  bear 
personal  testimony  to  the  language  of  the  Americans 
of  that  period;  but  he  has  been  interested  in  colloquial 
speech,  and  the  use  of  words  in  general,  for  over  fifty 
years,  taking  careful  notice  of  verbal,  especially  oral, 
peculiarities  in  many  parts  of  this  country  and  among 
all  sorts  and  conditions  of  people ;  and  he  can  honestly 
say  that  the  above  elegant  extract  contains  only  one 
probably  American  error  that  he  believes  himself  ever 
to  have  heard — the  pronouncing  long  the  i  in  engine. 
He  recalls  hearing  one  of  his  schoolmates  so  speak 

the  word,  somewhere  back  in  the  fifties;  and  recalls 

224 


SOME      REAL     AMERICANISMS  225 

also  the  unmannerly  guffaw  of  laughter  with  which 
the  mispronunciation  was  greeted,  not  one  of  the  boys 
in  the  group,  except  the  speaker,  having  ever  heard 
it  before.  He  never  in  his  life  heard  anybody  pro- 
nounce the  sign  of  the  infinitive  like  toe;  and  he  never 
heard  the  word  rowdy  used  by  anybody  except  to  desig- 
nate a  ruffian.  The  don't  with  subject  in  the  singular 
(used  more  than  once  by  Dickens  himself),  the  dou- 
ble negative,  the  adjectives  for  adverbs,  the  cacopha- 
nous  aint,  the  mispronunciation  natur'  (reprobated 
by  Walker  as  long  ago  as  1791)  are  surely  one  and 
all  quite  as  common  on  the  other  side  of  the  sea  as 
they  are  here,  always  have  been  so,  and  are  of  no  great 
consequence  in  any  case,  being  simply  faults  of  speech 
characteristic  of  the  vulgar,  in  whatever  country  they 
may  be  heard.  As  for  tonguey,  it  occurs  in  Wyclif's 
"Ecclesiasticus,"  8.4 — "strive  not  with  a  man  that  is 
tonguey,"  a  translation  completed  almost  a  century 
before  Columbus  was  born,  and  made  by  a  scholar 
who  ranks  as  the  father  of  English  prose.  So  much 
for  one  discovery  of  a  batch  of  "Americanisms  of  the 
first  water." 

But  that  is  not  to  say  that  such  things  do  not  exist. 
Here  is  a  list,  with  briefest  possible  definitions  (or 
none  at  all,  if  the  meaning  is  unmistakable)  of  about 
1900  of  them,^  words  and  phrases  that  appear  for  the 
most  part  to  be  genuine  Americanisms,  which  is  to 
say  that  each  of  them,  so  far  as  known,  either  (1) 

1  Which  may  be  thought  a  large  number;  but  please  see  p.  28. 


226  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

originated  in  America  and  expresses  something  that 
the  British  have  always  expressed  differently  if  they 
have  mentioned  it  at  all,  or  else  (2)  would  convey 
to  a  British  ear  a  different  meaning  from  that  which 
it  bears  in  this  country.  This  list,  and  the  list  of 
exotic  (and  therefore  pseudo-)  Americanisms  which 
precedes  it,  account  for  all  words  of  any  importance 
that  are  dealt  with  by  Pickering,  Bartlett,  Farmer, 
Clapin  and  Thornton;  and  included  in  the  list  now 
to  be  presented  are  also  a  considerable  number  of 
terms  that  escaped  the  attention  of  the  compilers 
named  or  have  come  into  use  since  the  publication  of 
their  books.  The  date  given  is  that  of  the  earliest 
known  appearance  of  the  word  or  phrase  in  print. 
When  an  initial  is  given  instead  of  a  date,  it  indicates 
that  the  word  is  catalogued  by  the  compiler  referred 
to,  and  therefore  must  be  older  than  his  book;  "P" 
standing  for  Pickering  (1816),  ''B"  for  Bartlett 
(1877),  "F"  for  Farmer  (1889),  ''C"  for  Clapin 
(1902),  "T"  for  Thornton  (1912).  In  some  cases 
where  the  present  writer,  though  unable  to  offer  evi- 
dence, is  quite  sure  that  the  word  is  much  older  than 
the  oldest  recorded  date,  the  initial  is  used,  even 
thought  dates  may  be  given  by  the  compiler  indicated. 
This  is  especially  the  case  with  Farmer,  most  of  whose 
citations  bear  one  single  date,  1888.  The  initial  "T" 
occurs  very  seldom,  for  the  reason  that  Thornton  dates 
all  his  citations  and  has  been  wonderfully  successful 
in  tracing  his  words  far  back  into  American  antiquity. 


SOME      REAL     AMERICANISMS  227 

*'B"  on  the  other  hand  appears  continually,  very  few 
of  Bartlett's  citations  bearing  date,  as  the  historical 
method  of  quoting  had  not  come  into  use  in  his  time. 
Excluded  from  both  lists,  except  for  special  reasons 
in  special  cases  (and  the  writer  is  well  aware  of  the 
difficulty  of  preserving  consistency  in  the  matter) 
are: 

1.  Words  and  phrases  stated  by  the  previous  com- 
piler himself  to  be  of  foreign  origin,  like  Farmer's 
hand-me-downs,  second-hand  or  ready-made  gar- 
ments, a  term  said  by  him  to  be  "slang  in  England" 
but  "colloquial  in  the  United  States"; 

2.  Names  of  things  exclusively  American  but  known 
abroad  under  the  same  name,  such  as  moccasin,  it 
being  as  absurd  to  call  these  words  Americanisms  as 
it  would  be  to  call  rajah  an  Indianism  or  boomerang 
an  Australianism ; 

3.  Names  of  things  invented  in  the  United  States, 
like  drawing-room  car — inventors  have  certainly  the 
right  to  name  their  products,  and  if  the  English  choose 
to  call  them  something  else,  that  change  cannot  make 
any  sort  of  ism  of  the  original  appellation; 

4.  Words  used  in  this  country  in  a  sense  hardly  dis- 
tinguishable from  that  which  they  bear  in  England, 
like  force  for  a  gang  of  laborers,  counted  by  Farmer 
as  an  Americanism  because  the  term  is  restricted  in 
England  to  a  party  of  soldiers  or  policemen ; 

5.  Nonce  words,  like  Mark  Twain's  cavalieress, 
probably  never  used  by  anybody  but  the  inventor  and 


228  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

perhaps  only  once  by  him,  such  vocables  forming  no 
part  of  the  language; 

6.  Perfectly  regular  and  self-explanatory  com- 
pounds, like  office-holder  in  Bartlett,  planing-machine 
in  Farmer,  ink-slinger  in  Clapin  and  fly-time  in 
Thornton;  and  finally, 

7,  Purely  technical  terms,  often  hard  to  distin- 
guish from  slang,  like  many  of  those  used  in  news- 
paper accounts  of  base-ball  matches,  terms  quite  as 
unintelligible  to  Americans,  except  those  specially  in- 
terested in  the  game,  as  they  can  possibly  be  to  any 
Englishman. 


Abergoins — Aborigines,  B. 

Aboard  a  land  vehicle,  F. 

Abolitiondom — The  Free  States,  1848. 

Abolitionist,  1790. 

Abolitionize,  B. 

Aboriginal — Original,  F. 

Above  One's  Bend,  B. 

Above  Snakes — Above  the  ground,  B. 

Abrasive,  1823. 

Abskise — To  depart,  C. 

Absquatulate — To  depart  in  haste,  1833. 

Abutter — Owner  of  adjoining  property,  1874. 

Acknowledge  the  Corn — Make  an  admission, 

1828. 
Across  Lots,  1825. 


SOME      REAL      AMERICANISMS  229 

AcRUFFS — River  thieves,  F. 

ACCUMULATIVES,  C. 

Adobes — Sun-baked  bricks,  1834. 

Adventism  and  Adventist,  B. 

Affiliations — Friendly  relations,  1822. 

Africanize  and  Africanization,  B. 

After — Afternoon,  C. 

Agaze — Astonished,  F. 

Age — First  hand  in  poker,  C. 

Ague  pronounced  to  rhyme  with  plague,  B. 

Air-line — Direct  route,  1840. 

Albany  Beef — Sturgeon,  B. 

Albany  Hemp — Canada  nettle,  B. 

Albany  Regency — An  old  political  cabal,  B. 

Alewife — Kind  of  fish,  1678. 

Algerine — Pirate,  1844. 

Algic — Pertaining  to  Algonquin  Indians,  B. 

Alienism,  P. 

Alkali  Desert,  B. 

All  Any  More — All  gone,  B. 

All-a-Setting — In  good  condition,  B. 

All-Day — Steady,  strong,  B. 

All  Hollow — Completely,  B. 

Allottee,  F. 

All-possessed — "Affected  by  evil  spirits,"  B. 

All  Sorts — Mixed  odds  and  ends  of  drinks,  B. 

All  Sorts  Of — Excellent,  capital,  B. 

All  the  Go,  All  the  Rage — Very  popular,  C. 

All  the  Time — Continually,  repeatedly. 


230  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

All  Two— Both,  B. 

Allot  Upon — Intend,  P. 

Allow — Intend;  "I  allow  to  go  (or  allot  upon  going) 
home  to-morrow." 

Alter — Castrate,  F. 

Ambia — Expectorated  tobacco  juice,  B. 

Ambition — Grudge,  B. 

Ambitious — Angry,  1837. 

Ambuscade — Quarrel,  C. 

Americanism,  P. 

Americanize,  1802. 

Among — Between,  referring  to  two,  B. 

Among  the  Missing — Disappeared,  B. 

And  the  Rise — ^More  than  stated,  C, 

Angel — Patron  of  a  show  or  an  actress. 

Angeliferous — Highly  delightful,  F.  (Perhaps  a 
nonce  word.) 

Angle  Worm — Worm  used  for  bait,  C. 

Animule — Mule,  F, 

Anog — Andiron,  1840. 

Ante — In  game  of  poker,  1857. 

Antehumous — Before  death,  1862.  (From  mis- 
take as  to  meaning  of  posthumous.) 

Anti-Bank — Opposed  to  central  U.  S.  bank,  1862. 

Anti-Federalist — Extinct  political  party,  1788. 

Anti-Fogmatic — Euphemism  for  a  drink  of  liquor, 
1789. 

Anti-Masonry — Principles  of  extinct  political  party, 
B. 


SOME      REAL     AMERICANISMS  23 1 

Anti-Negro,  B. 

Anti-Rentism — Associated  refusal,  by  tenants  of  old 

manorial  estates  around  Albany,  to  pay  rent  to 

the  patroon,  1846. 
Anti-Slavery,  B. 
Anti-Southern,  1861. 

Anti-Union — Favoring  the  rebellion  of  1861. 
Anything    Else — "Hyperbolical    phrase    denoting 

strong  affirmation,"  B. 
Antony  Over — Boys'  game,  F. 
Anxious  Meeting — Religious  assembly  for  repentant 

sinners,  B. 
Anxious  Seat — Seat  for  persons  desiring  the  prayers 

of  the  meeting,  1835. 
Apartment — Apartment  house. 
Apishamore — Bed  or  saddle  blanket,  B. 
Appetitical — Inviting  to  the  appetite,  1855. 
Apple  Brandy,  B. 
Apple  Butter,  1832. 
Apple  Leather,  B. 

Apple  Peeling — Party  for  peeling  apples,  1871. 
Apple  Toddy,  1809. 

Appreciate — To  rise  or  raise  in  value,  1779. 
Appreciation — Increase  in  value,  P. 
Arab  in  "street  Arab" — Ragamuffin,  B. 
Arctics — Heavy  overshoes,  F. 
Arkansas  Toothpick — Bowie  knife,  B. 
Armory — Place  where  arms  are  manufactured,  B. 
Arm-Shop — Gunsmith's  establishment,  F, 


232  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Around — Near,  as  in  phrase,  "I  was  standing 
around,"  B. 

Arrow — Flavor  of  sugarcane,  F. 

Arter — Mispronunciation  of  after,  F. 

Ary — E'er  a,  any,  1852. 

AscoTCH — Wet  gunpowder,  B. 

As  Good  As — Might  as  well,  as  in  phrase,  "I'd  as 
good's  go  to  New  York,"  B. 

As  Long  As — Because,  since,  B. 

Ash  Cake — Cake  baked  in  ashes,  1839. 

AsHL ANDERS — Baltimore  rowdies,  B. 

Assemblyman — ^Member  of  lower  house  of  legisla- 
ture, B. 

AssociATiONAL — Relating  to  an  association,  1815. 

AssociATiONiST — Member  of  an  association,  B. 

AsTERiSM — Asterisk,  1796. 

At,  verb — to  go  at,  to  attack,  "I  at  him,"  B. 

At  Auction  instead  of  "by  auction,"  B. 

At  (instead  of  in)  the  North  or  South,  B. 

At  That — Phrase  used  to  emphasize  a  statement, 
1830. 

Attleborough — Sham  jewelry,  F. 

Available  and  Availability,  as  applied  to  a  person 
who  is  under  consideration  for  nomination  to  an 
office,  and  meaning,  not  at  all  that  he  will  con- 
sent to  run,  but  that  it  is  expedient  to  name  him. 
Many  men,  highly  available  in  the  proper  sense 
of  the  word,  are  not  at  all  available  in  the  sense 
in  which  it  is  often  used  in  this  country;  you  can 


SOME      REAL     AMERICANISMS  233 

get  them  easily  enough,  but  you  don't  want  them. 
Thus  used,  the  two  words  are,  I  believe,  genuine 
(and  very  bad)   Americanisms.     They  date  in 
print  from  1848. 
Avalanche — Ambulance,  B. 


B 

Babes — Baltimore  rowdies,  B. 

Back — Ago,  B. 

Back  a  Letter — Direct  it,  B. 

Back  a  Note  or  Check — Endorse  it,  C. 

Back  Country — That  remote  from  main  highways, 

B. 
Back  Down — Retreat,  B. 
Back  Furrow — Method  of  plowing,  B. 
Back  Log  of  an  open  fire,  1684. 
Back  Setting — Method  of  plowing,  B. 
Back  Talk — Reply,  C. 

Back  Track,  to  take — To  retrace  one's  steps,  1802. 
Back  Water — To  retreat,  metaphorically  speaking, 

to  retract  one's  words,  B. 
Backwoods — Forest,  country  thinly  populated,  1768. 
Bait — Fulcrum,  F. 
Baker — Portable  oven,  1841. 
Bake-Shop — Baker's  establishment,  1862. 
Balance — Remainder,  P. 
Bald-Face  (whiskey),  1840. 
Ball  Up — Fail  or  cause  to  fail,  confuse,  F. 


234  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Ballyhack — Imaginary  place  of  discomfort  to  which 
the  speaker  would  like  to  send  somebody,  1845. 

Ballyrag — Revile,  F. 

Bang — Hair  cut  straight  across  forehead,  1880. 

Banco — ^Negro  expletive  of  uncertain  (or  no)  mean- 
ing, B. 

Banker — Fishing  craft,  B, 

Bank  Sneak — Person  who  steals  from  a  bank,  1888. 

Banter — Challenge,  1793. 

Barberize — Perform  duties  of  barber,  B. 

Barn  for  stable — Place  where  animals  are  kept,  but 
not  hay,  grain  or  other  crops  except  in  small 
quantities  and  incidentally,  C. 

Barrack — Open  structure  for  storing  hay,  B. 

Barraclade — Kind  of  blanket,  B. 

Barracoon — Slave  house,  B. 

Bartender,  B.^rkeeper — Person  who  sells  drinks  in 
barroom. 

Bat — Spree,  drunken  carousal,  1848. 

Bayou — Arm  of  watercourse,  1812. 

Beach-Comber — 1.  Wave  striking  the  shore.  2. 
Person  living  near  shore,  with  connotation  of  his 
being  disreputable,  generally  criminal. 

Bead,  to  draw — To  take  aim,  1873. 

Beat — Excelling  everything  else  of  the  same  kind; 
"I  never  saw  the  beat  of  that";  1847. 

Beat  or  Dead  Beat — Mean  cheat,  bilk. 

Beat  Out — Very  tired,  B. 

Bedspread — Coverlet,  counterpane,  F, 


SOME      REAL     AMERICANISMS  235 

Bee — A  meeting  to  help  a  neighbor  in  his  work,  1769. 

Bee  Gum — Kind  of  hive,  1835. 

Behindments — Arrearages,  B. 

Belittle,  P. 

Bell  Hop — Bell  boy  in  hotel. 

Belt — Kill  tree  by  girdling  it,  F. 

Bent — Part  of  a  building  that  should  not  bend,  C. 

Bestowment — Giving,  P. 

Betty — Kind  of  flask,  B. 

Biff — A  blow,  C. 

Big  in  metaphorical  sense — Great,  fine,  excellent,  B. 

BiGGiTY — Consequential,  F. 

Big-Head — Disease  in  cattle,  undue  sense  of  impor- 
tance in  man. 

Billion — A  thousand  million,  1840.  Very  sensible 
change  (and  supported  by  French  usage)  from 
the  English  way  of  understanding  billion  as  a 
million  million,  and  therefore  almost  negativing 
the  use  of  the  word  by  applying  it  to  a  number 
so  enormous  as  to  be  scarcely  ever  referred  to  in 
ordinary  life,  whereas  we  deal  constantly  with  the 
American  billion  and  find  the  term  very  conven- 
ient. There  seems  to  be  no  more  reason  for  call- 
ing our  billion  "a  thousand  million"  than  for 
calling  a  million  "a  thousand  thousand." 

Bindery — Place  where  books  are  bound,  B. 

Bishop — ^Lady's  bustle,  1790. 

Bislings — First  milk  of  cow  after  calving,  C. 

Bit — A  small  coin,  1683. 


236  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Blacksnake — Kind  of  whip,  1869. 

Blamed — Damned,  B. 

Blankety — Euphemism  for  any  profane  word  the 
reader  chooses  to  suppose. 

Blatherskite — Loud,  vapid  talk,  F. 

Blatt — "To  talk  with  noisy  assurance  and  bluster," 
C. 

Blaze — Mark  on  tree,  indicating  trail,  1737. 

Bleachers — Uncovered  seats  at  open-air  functions, 
T. 

Blickey — Tin  pail,  B. 

Blind — Term  in  poker,  F. 

Blinders  for  horses — The  English  blinkers,  1809. 

Blizzard — Violent  storm,  with  snow  and  great  cold, 
1834. 

Bloated  (eels) — Skinned  and  eviscerated,  B. 

Block — Space  between  streets;  row  of  buildings  all 
in  contact,  1796.  In  the  former  sense,  equiva- 
lent to  square  as  used  in  some  places. 

Blood  Tubs — Baltimore  rowdies,  1861. 

Bloomer  Costume,  1851. 

Blower — Iron  sheet  in  front  of  fire,  to  increase  draft, 
1795. 

Blowhard — Braggart,  1855. 

Blow  Up — To  berate,  B. 

Bluebacks — "Confederate"  bills,  B. 

Bluelights — Traitors,  1812. 

Blue  Pill— Bullet,  1861. 


SOME      REAL      AMERICANISMS  237 

Bluff — Putting  on  bold  face,  having  weak  cause, 

1850. 
Blummechies — Kind  of  flowers,  B. 
Blummies — Flowers,  B. 
Boat  ABLE — Navigable,  1683. 
Bob — Kind  of  bait,  B. 
Bob  Sled — Sled  supported  by  what  may  be  called 

shorter  sleds  under  it,  B. 
Bob  (veal) — Immature,  unfit  for  eating,  F. 
BocKEY — Vessel  made  from  gourd,  B. 
BoDACiousLY — Bodily,  1833. 
Body  Bolt  of  wagon,  B. 
Bogus — Imitation,  1827. 
Bolt — Desert  one's  party,  1812. 
BoMBO — North  Carolina  animal,  B. 
Bonanza — Lucky  hit,  1847. 
Bone — Tip  to  customs-house  officer;  dollar. 
Bone — To  apply  one's  self,  B. 
Boneyard — Cemetery,  F. 
Boodle— 1.  All;  "the  whole  kit  and  boodle,"  1833. 

2.  Money,  particularly  if  dishonestly  obtained, 

1858. 
Bookstore,  1796. 

Boom — Sudden  increase  in  popularity. 
Boost — To  lift  from  below,  1825. 
Boot — To  kick,  B. 
Bootlick — Toady,  B. 
Borning  Ground — Native  soil,  B. 


238  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Bosom  of  a  shirt,  C. 

Boss — Employer  or  director,  1806. 

Bothersome — Vexatious,  B. 

Bounce — To  throw  out  or  discharge  a  person,  B. 

Bounty  Jumper — Soldier  who  deserts  after  receiv- 
ing bounty,  B. 

Bourbon — 1.  Kind  of  whiskey,  1857.  2.  Deter- 
mined Democrat,  whom  nothing  can  change, 
1859. 

Bower — Knave  of  trumps  and  the  other  knave  of 
same  color,  in  euchre,  B. 

Box — 1.  Boat  for  duck  shooting,  B.  2.  Incision  in 
tree  to  collect  turpentine,  B. 

Box  Car — Closed  car,  1862. 

Box  Coat — Heavy  overcoat,  B. 

Brace  Up  or  Take  a  Brace — Pull  one's  self  to- 
gether, C. 

Branch — Brook,  1817. 

Brave — Indian  warrior,  B. 

Breadstuff — Edible  grain,  1793. 

Break — 1.  Sale  of  tobacco,  B.     2.  Bad  blunder,  C. 

Breakback — Kind  of  roof,  B. 

Breakbone  Fever — 1862. 

Breakdown — 1.  Riotous  dance,  B.  2.  Dead  fail- 
ure, 1877. 

Bred  (said  of  female  animal) — Impregnated,  served, 
covered. 

Brick  in  the  Hat — Drunk,  1848. 

Brill — Burr  left  on  edge  of  cut  metal,  B. 


SOME      REAL     AMERICANISMS  239 

Briticism,  1882.  This  has  been  criticized  as  incor- 
rectly formed,  there  being  no  such  word  as  Britic. 
It  however  follows  the  analogy  of  Scotticism, 
used  by  Defoe  (1717),  Wesley  (1772),  and 
Leigh  Hunt  (1815).     See  p.  42. 

Britisher,  1843. 

Broadhorn — Kind  of  boat,  F. 

Brogues — Breeches,  1809. 

Broncho — Native  California  horse,  1878. 

Brotus  or  Brottus — Small  gift  to  customer, 
lagniappe,  B. 

Broughtens  Up — Breeding,  education,  B. 

Brung — Brought,  1835. 

Bub  or  Bubby — Little  boy,  F. 

Buccaneer — ^Long  musket,  B. 

Buck — 1.  Male  sheep,  ram.  2.  Stand  on  which 
wood  is  sawed  for  fuel,  B.  3.  Dollar,  commonly 
without  inflection  for  the  plural,  "two  buck" 
meaning  two  dollars. 

BucKBOARD — Kind  of  wagon,  1839. 

Bucket — Pail,  B. 

Bucket  Shop — Office  where  stock  transactions  for 
customers  are  not  actually  made,  though  sup- 
posed to  be,  1881. 

Buck  Fever — Agitation  of  inexperienced  deer  hun- 
ter, B. 

Buck  Shot — ^Large  shot,  used  for  deer,  B. 

Buckskin — Persons  wearing  deer-skin  garments, 
1755. 


240  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

BucKTAiLS — Extinct  political  party,  1851. 

Buffalo — Bison,  B. 

Buffalo  Robe — Rug  made  of  bison-skin,  B. 

Bulge,  to  get — To  get  the  better  of  one,  1860. 

Bulger — Something  very  big,  B. 

Bull  Boat — One  made  of  ox-hides,  B. 

Bulldoze — To  intimidate  or  bully,  1876. 

Bull  Plow,  C. 

Bull's  Eye — Thick  and  heavy  watch,  B. 

BuLLWHACKER — Driver  of  oxen,  1859. 

Bum  or  Bummer — Loafer,  1856. 

Bumper  of  railroad  car — What  is  called  buffer  in 
England,  B. 

Bun — Load  of  liquor;  jag. 

Bunch — To  gather  together,  B. 

Bunco — To  cheat,  F. 

Buncombe — Insincere  nonsense,  meant  to  be  taken 
seriously,  1791. 

Bundle,  said  of  a  man  and  a  woman — To  occupy 
the  same  bed,  fully  dressed,  and  without  conno- 
tation of  their  engaging  in  really  reprehensible 
proceedings,  1781. 

Bungay — Hell,  B, 

BuNGO — Kind  of  boat,  B. 

Bungtown  Copper — Spurious  halfpenny,  1840. 

Bunker — Kind  of  fish,  B. 

Burdensome — Capable  of  carrying  cargo,  1763. 

BuRGALL — Kind  of  fish,  B. 

Burgle  or  Burglarize — To  commit  burglary. 


SOME      REAL     AMERICANISMS  24I 

Bushwhacker — 1.  Countryman,  B.     2.  Guerilla, 

1864.     3.  Scythe,  sickle  or  similar  implement, 

B. 
Buster — 1.  Obstreperous  person,  B.     2.  Spree,  B. 
Butt — To  oppose,  B. 
Butte — Detached  and  steep  hill,  1838. 
Butter-Fingered — "Said  of  person  whose  powers  of 

retaining  an  article  in  his  grasp  are  not  great," 

C. 
BuTTERiNE — Imitation  butter,  B. 
Butternut — "Confederate"  soldier  in  rebellion  of 

1861. 
Buzz  Saw — Circular  saw,  F. 
By  and  Again — Occasionally,  B. 
By-Bidder — Bidder  at  auction  who  does  not  mean  to 

buy,  but  only  to  raise  the  price,  B. 
By  Sun — Before  sunset,  B. 

C 

Cable — 1.  Car  drawn  by  cable.  2.  Message  by  sub- 
marine telegraph,  1871. 

Cablegram — Message  by  submarine  telegraph,  1868. 

Caboodle — The  whole  lot,  1856. 

Cack — Small  shoe,  B. 

Cahoot — Combination,  1834. 

Call — Privilege  of  buying,  before  a  specified  date,  a 
certain  stock  from  a  certain  person  at  a  specified 
price. 


242  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Calibogus — Kind  of  drink,  1792. 

Call  Down — Reprove,  scold,  correct. 

Callithumpians — Party  giving  noisy  burlesque  of 
a  serenade,  B. 

Campaign — Contest  for  offices,  B. 

Camphene — Oil  formerly  used  in  lamps,  B. 

Campus  of  a  college — Open  field  near  buildings, 
1833. 

Cannot  or  Can  Only — for  may  not  or  may  only, 
where  the  question  is  of  right  and  not  of  power, 
as  in  phrase,  "This  wrapper  cannot  be  used"  for 
certain  purposes,  or  "can  only  be  used  for  certain 
purposes,"  meaning  to  lay  down  a  rule  and  not 
to  state  an  impossibility.  (I  have  never  seen  this 
error  listed  as  an  Americanism,  and  hope  to  be 
shown  that  I  am  in  error  in  believing  it  to  be 
one;  but  such  is  my  impression.) 

Canaille — Shorts,  low  grades  of  flour. 

Candidacy,  1861. 

Canebrake — Thicket  of  canes,  1787. 

Cane-Rush — Struggle  for  stick  between  two  classes 
in  college,  C. 

Canon — Narrow  passage  between  high  and  precipi" 
tous  banks,  1834. 

Canuck — Canadian,  1855. 

Capper — By-bidder,  as  defined  above,  B. 

Caption — Title  or  heading,  1821. 

Car-House — Obsolete  term  for  railroad  station,  C. 
(I  think  it  not  obsolete.) 


SOME      REAL     AMERICANISMS  243 

Carpet-Bagger — Temporary  resident,  with  implica- 
tion of  contempt,  1857. 

Carriole — Sleigh,  1808. 

Carry — Portage,  1851. 

Carryall — 1.  Vehicle,  1814.  2.  Kind  of  traveling 
bag. 

Carrylog — Vehicle  for  moving  timber. 

Case — 1.  Peculiar  character.  2.  Vulgar  name  for 
favorite  kind  of  traveling  bag,  called  first  a  dress 
suit  case,  then  a  suit  case,  finally  (by  some  peo- 
ple) simply  a  case. 

Casket— Coffin,  1879. 

Cat — To  catch,  or  try  to  catch,  catfish,  C. 

Catav^ampous  or  Catawamptious — Various  indefi- 
nite meanings,  1843. 

Catch-all — Miscellaneous  receptacle,  1838. 

Catch  On — Understand,  1884. 

Cat  Boat — Boat  with  one  mast  near  bow  and  one  sail, 
B. 

Cat  Haul — Punish  by  dragging  fierce  cat  along  the 
victim's  naked  back,  1816. 

Caucus — Informal  preliminary  political  meeting, 
1744. 

Cavendish — Preparation  of  tobacco,  B. 

Cavort — Prance,  1834. 

Celestial — Chinaman,  B. 

Cent — Hundredth  part  of  a  dollar,  B. 

Chance — Quantity;  "he  lost  a  smart  chance  of 
blood,"  1819. 


244  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Chaparral — Thicket,  particularly  of  dwarf  oak,  B. 
Charlotte  or  Cliarlotte  Russe — Fancy  cake  or 

pudding,  1793. 
Checkers — Game  called  in  England  draughts,  P. 
Checks — Counters,  B. 
Chemiloon — Combination  undergarment  for  women, 

B. 
Chestnut — Hackneyed  joke  or  story,  1882. 
Chin — Unprofitable  chatter,  B. 
Chince — A  marble,  B. 
Chinch  or  Chintz — Bedbug,  1705. 
Chinchbug — Insect  infesting  grain,  B. 
Chink — Chinaman. 
Chip — Disc  of  ivory,  bone  or  the  like,  used  in  games, 

C. 
Chip  In — Contribute,  join  in,  1870. 
Chippy — Derogatory  term  for  young  woman,  C. 
Chipmunk — Small  squirrel,  B. 
Chirivari — Noisy  wedding  serenade,  B. 
Chitlins — Rags,  B. 
Chock   Up — Close,   tight,    said    of  physical   things, 

B. 
Chompins — Chewed  food,  B. 
Chuck-a-Luck — A  game,  1857. 
Chunk — Short-backed,     solidly-built     horse.     (Mr. 

Thornton's  definition,  "a  worthless  horse,"  is  one 

of  the  very  few  errors  into  which  that  careful  and 

accurate  writer  has  fallen.) 
Chunky — Short  and  thick,  1776. 


SOME      REAL      AMERICANISMS  245 

Churchism — Adherence  to  ecclesiastical  system, 

1768. 
Churchmaul — To  discipline  ecclesiastically,  B. 
Cider  Oil — Preparation  of  cider  and  honey,  B. 
CiMLiN,  Cymbling — Kind  of  squash,  B. 
Cinch — Thing  easily  done. 
Cinch — 1.  To  put  on  the  girth  of  a  horse,  1872.     2. 

To  fasten  something  securely,  as  a  bargain. 
Citified,  B. 

CiTiZENizE — Make  citizen  of,  1811. 
Citron — Sweetmeat  not  made  from  citron,  B. 
Claggy  (bread) — Heavy,  C. 
Claim — To  assert,  without  demanding  anything,  B. 

(Used    by    some   Northerners    exactly    as    some 

Southerners  use  the  antithetical  word,  allow.) 
Clamshell — Mouth,  B. 
Clamtrap — Mouth,  1800. 
Clapmatch — Kind  of  sealskin,  B. 
Clapmatch,  Clockmutch — Woman's  cap,  B. 
Classy — Stylish,  fine. 
Clatterments — Belongings,  C. 
Clatterwhacking — Racket,  B. 
Clawhammer — Long-tailed  coat  for  evening  wear, 

dress  coat,  swallow-tail,  1869. 
Clear  (liquid) — Undiluted,  though  perhaps  muddy 

in  appearance,  C. 
Clear  Grit — Unalloyed,  genuine,  1825. 
Clearing — ^Land  from  which  trees  have  been  cut, 

1817. 


246  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Clear  Out — Depart,  1824. 

Clingstone  (peach) — Having  flesh  clinging  to  stone, 
B. 

Cling  JOHN — Rye  cake,  B. 

Close  Out — Sell  the  entire  stock,  C. 

Cloudburst — Sudden  and  violent  storm,  1821. 

Clove — Narrow  valley,  C. 

Coast — Slide  down  hill,  1775. 

Coatee — Small,  tight  military  coat,  1775.  (I  think, 
though  I  cannot  prove,  that  this  word  is  of  Brit- 
ish origin.) 

Cob — Ear  of  corn  after  removal  of  grain,  B. 

Cobbler — 1.  A  drink,  1855.  2.  Kind  of  fruit  pie, 
B. 

CocKAROusE — Person  of  consequence,  1624. 

Cocktail — A  drink,  1806. 

C.  O.  D. — Collect  on  delivery,  B. 

Codding — Fishing  for  cod,  B. 

Co-Ed — Female  at  school  for  both  sexes,  1909. 

Coffin  Boat — One  used  for  duck-shooting,  F. 

CoHEES — People  of  parts  of  Pennsylvania,  from  their 
use  of  the  archaic  "Quo'  he,"  quoth  he,  B. 

Cold  Slaw — Corruption  of  coleslaw,  chopped  cab- 
bage, 1794. 

Cold  Sore — Eruption  about  mouth,  B. 

COLLAPSITY,  B. 

CoLLARDS — Colewort,  kind  of  cabbage,  1818. 
Collect — Pond  supplied  only  by  rain,  B. 
Collect — Obtain  payment  of  a  bill,  C. 


SOME      REAL     AMERICANISMS  247 

Colored — Having  negro  blood,  1760. 

Come  Down — Supply  money,  B. 

Come  In  (said  of  female  animal) — Produce  young. 

CoMPASSiVE — Compassionate,  B. 

Complected — Having  a  certain  complexion,  1839. 

Compliment — Gift,  B. 

CoMPUS — Sane,  compos  mentis,  B. 

Concededly,  1882. 

Concerned — Very  greatly,  B. 

Conductor  or  Train — The  English  "guard,"  1839. 

Confectionery — Barroom,  B. 

Confederate — Southern  rebel  of  1861. 

CoNFERREES — Persons  who  confer,  F. 

Confidence  Man — Plausible  and  tricky  cheat. 

Congressional,  P. 

Congressman — ^Member  of  House  of  Representatives 
as  distinguished  from  Senator,  though  the  Sen- 
ate is  part  of  Congress. 

Coniacker,  Koniacker — Counterfeiter  of  coin,  B. 

Conk — Person  living  near  seashore,  with  connotation 
of  his  being  a  wrecker,  B. 

Conniption — ^Mild  hysterics,  1833. 

CONNUBIATE — Act  with,  F. 

Considerable — 1.  A  good  deal;  "he  is  considerable 
of  a  surveyor,"  1816.  2.  Very:  "a  body  has  to 
stir  about  considerable  smart,"  B. 

Contestee — Contestant,  F. 

Contraband — Negro,  1861.  An  American  general 
called  negro  slaves  contraband  of  war. 


248  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Convene — Be  convenient  for;  "this  road  will  con- 
vene the  public,"  i.  e.,  will  (not  bring  together, 
but)  be  convenient  for  the  public,  P. 

Goodies — Extinct  political  party,  1814. 

Cooler — Jail,  1884. 

Coolly,  Coulee — Gorge,  ravine,  B. 

Coon — 1.  Raccoon,  1839.     2.  Negro. 

Copperhead — Northern  sympathizer  with  the  rebel- 
lion. First  known  appearance  of  the  word  in 
this  sense  (it  having  been  previously  used  only 
to  designate  a  venomous  snake)  was  in  the  Cin- 
cinnati Commercial  of  Oct.  1,  1862. 

CoRDELLE — Tow  line,  1826. 

Corduroy  Road — Causeway  of  logs  laid  together 
transversely  over  rough  or  swampy  ground,  B. 

Corn — Indian  corn,  maize,  1774.  Slovenly  contrac- 
tion, much  like  saying  "stock"  for  "live  stock," 
as  if  the  cattle  were  any  more  part  of  the  "stock" 
of  a  farm  than  are  the  plows.  It  may  be  worth 
noting  that  people  who  call  live  stock  "stock" 
are  pretty  certain  also  to  insert  wholly  unneces- 
sary and  useless  words  in  speaking  of  these  ani- 
mals, by  saying  that  they  keep  so  many  "head 
of"  cattle  or  sheep  or  the  like.  Blunders  in 
speech  are  very  apt  to  be  reciprocal,  as  one  may 
say. 

CoRNjuiCE — Whiskey,  B. 

Corn  Trash — Husks  or  shucks  of  Indian  corn. 


SOME      REAL     AMERICANISMS  249 

Corner — Get  possession  of  the  whole  available  sup- 
ply of  a  commodity  or  stock,  1841. 

CoRPOROSiTY — Abdomen,  1837. 

Corral — Enclosure  for  animals,  1845. 

CoTCH — Catch,  negro  mispronunciation,  B. 

CouNCiLMANic — Pertaining  to  a  councilman,  1861. 

Count — Terrapin  or  the  like  large  enough  to  be  sold 
by  count  instead  of  measure,  C. 

Country  Jake — Backwoodsman,  B. 

County  House — Almshouse,  F. 

Couple — A  few,  but  more  than  two,  B. 

Cover  a  Short  Sale — Buy  stocks  that  one  has  sold 
without  owning  them,  B. 

Cowcatcher — Safety  device  in  front  of  locomotive, 
1838. 

Cowlick — Bunch  of  hair  running  the  wrong  way,  C. 

CowsKiN— Whip,  1789. 

Crab — Fast  horse,  1848. 

Crab  Lantern — Kind  of  pie,  1818. 

Crab  Schooner — Kind  of  vessel,  B. 

Crackajack — Adept,  C. 

Cracker — Poor  southern  white,  1784. 

Cracklings — Cinders,  B. 

Crack  Loo — A  game,  B. 

Crack  On — Put  on,  B. 

Crank — Eccentric  person,  1840. 

Craps — A  negroes'  gambling  game,  F. 

Craweish — Crayfish,  1823. 


250  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Crawm — Pile  of  rubbish,  C. 

Crazybone — Point  of  elbow,  "funnybone,"  B. 

Creamer — Apparatus  for  gathering  cream. 

Creamery — Kind  of  dairy,  B. 

Crease — Shoot  animal  in  top  of  neck,  startling  him 
more  than  hurting  him,  1807. 

Creek — Small  stream,  1674. 

Creole — Native  of  the  place,  especially  in  New  Or- 
leans, person  chiefly  of  French  (and  having  no 
smallest  intermixture  of  African)  blood. 

Crook — Habitual  criminal,  1886. 

Crookneck — Kind  of  squash,  1801. 

Cropper — One  who  cultivates  farm  on  shares,  B. 

Cross  Timber — Line  of  forest,  B. 

Crotch — Fork  of  road  or  river,  1767. 

Crotchical — Crotchety,  B. 

Crowd — A  number  of  people  either  actually  together 
or  loosely  associated  by  a  common  interest;  a 
^'push,"  1834. 

Grower — Cock,  B. 

Cruller — Fried  cake,  1814. 

Crush — Foolishly  exaggerated  fondness  for  a  per- 
son, C. 

Cry — Publish  marriage  banns,  B. 

CuEEY — Negro,  B. 

Curios — Curiosities,  B. 

CusPiDORE — Spittoon,  1779. 

CussEDNESS — Perversity,  1866.  (I  believe  the  word 
to  be  much  older  than  this  date.) 


SOME     REAL     AMERICANISMS         2^1 

CusswoRD — Profane  oath,  1872. 

Custom-made  (clothing) — Made  to  order,  F. 

Cut — Absent  one's  self  from  prayers,  lectures  or  the 

like,  B. 
Cut  and  Dried — Arranged  in  advance,  B, 
Cut  Capers,  Cut  Didoes — Act  in  a  frolicsome  way. 
Cut  Dirt — Run,  1833. 
Cut  a  Splurge — ^Make  great  display,  B. 
Cut-off — 1.  Shorter  route  than  is  usually  followed, 

1818.     2.  New  and  shorter  course  of  a  river, 

1830. 
Cut  Round — Fly  about,  make  display,  B. 
Cut  Under — Undersell,  B. 
Cutter — Small  sleigh,  1811. 
Cymbling — Cimlin,  q.  v. 

D 

Dago — Person  of  South  European  blood,  1832. 
Daisy,  Dandy — Thing  first-rate  of  its  kind,  F. 
Dare  for  may?     "Dare  we  have  a  holiday?"  C. 
Darky — Negro,  1775. 
Daydow^n — Sunset,  C. 

Deacon — To  cheat,  in  various  applications,  1866. 
Deacon  (calf) — Kill  as  soon  as  born,  B. 
Deacon  (hymn) — Read  aloud,  line  by  line,  1831. 
Dead  Broke — Penniless,  1856. 
Deaden  (tree) — Kill,  B. 

Deadhead — Person  who  gets  admission  or  transpor- 
tation gratis,  1849. 


252  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Dead  Rabbits — New  York  rowdies,  1858. 

Decedent — Deceased  person,  B. 

Declension,  Declination — Refusal,  declining,  P. 

Dehorn — Corruption  of  dishorn,  F. 

Demote — Reverse  of  promote,  1909. 

Dengue — Kind  of  fever,  1828. 

Desperate — Very,  C. 

Dicker — Haggle,  bargain,  barter,  1802. 

Dig — Hard  student,  1837. 

Ding  or  Dinged — Damned,  B. 

Dingbats — Money;  anything  used  to  spank  with  or 

to  throw. 
Dingle — Storm  door,  C. 
Dip — 1.  Pudding  sauce,  B.     2.  Pickpocket. 
Dipper — Constellation  Ursa  Major,  1842. 
Dippy — Crazy. 
Dirt — Earth,  not  implying  uncleanness,  as  in  "dirt 

road,"  B. 
Dish  Gravy — Juice  of  meat  that  follows  carving. 
Ditty  Bag — Sailor's  housewife. 
Dive — Resort  of  the  vilest  character,  1882. 
Divide — Ridge  of  land  from  which  streams  flow  in 

opposite  directions,  1807. 
Dizzy — Giddy  in  metaphorical  sense,  wild,  heedless, 

F. 
Dobber — Float  for  fishline,  B. 
Dock — Pier  or  wharf.     Common  newspaper  blunder 

to  say  "a  man  jumped  off  the  dock,"  meaning 

that  he  jumped  into  the  dock. 


SOME      REAL      AMERICANISMS  253 

Docket — List  of  cases  for  trial,  1790.  In  England 
a  docket  is  a  list  of  judgments  rendered. 

Dock  WALLOPER — Loiterer  around  docks,  B. 

Doctor — Cook  on  ship,  1821. 

DoD  Rot  It — Euphemistic  oath,  B. 

Dodger — 1.  Kind  of  biscuit,  1834.  2.  Small  hand- 
bill, 1877. 

Dog — Promissory  note,  1833.  Thornton  says  this  is 
obsolete,  but  I  have  heard  it  more  than  once 
within  a  year  or  two. 

Doggery — Low  drinking  place,  1835. 

Doings — Food,  1833. 

Do  Me — Answer  my  purpose;  such  a  thing  "will  do 
me,"  1846. 

Donate — Give.     (Donation  is  old  English.) 

Done  with  past  participle,  "He's  done  gone,"  B. 

DoNOCK,  DoRNiCK — Stone,  1840. 

Doodlebug — Kind  of  beetle,  B. 

Doom — To  tax,  P. 

Double  (house) — Having  rooms  on  each  side  of  en- 
trance hall,  1768. 

Double- Jaded,  to  ride — To  ride  with  pillion,  1835. 

Double  Ripper — Kind  of  sled,  B. 

Dough — Money,  1851. 

Dough  Head — Fool,  B. 

Down  Country — Seaboard,  B. 

Dozy — Partly  decayed,  F. 

Draw — Movable  part  of  drawbridge,  1786. 

Draw  a  Bead — Aim  gun  or  pistol,  B. 


254  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Dress  Suit  Case — Kind  of  traveling  bag. 

Drink — Water  in  river,  bay  or  lake,  B. 

Driveway — Passage  for  vehicles,  B. 

Driving  Park — Racecourse,  B. 

Drop  in  phrase  "to  get  the  drop  on  somebody" — To 
have  him  at  your  mercy,  F. 

Drop  Letter — Letter  to  person  in  same  place,  1844. 

Drop  Light — Gaslight  swinging  from  chandelier  or 
connected  with  it  by  flexible  tube,  T. 

Drudge — Raw  whiskey,  C. 

Drugstore — The  ^'chemist's  shop"  of  England,  F. 
(But  druggist  is  an  old  English  word.) 

Dry — Having  law  prohibiting  sale  of  intoxicants,  as 
''a  dry  State." 

Dry  Goods — Cloth  and  the  like,  1777. 

Dry  Up— Be  silent,  1856. 

Dude — Person  who  thinks  too  much  about  his  clothes, 
1880  or  earlier. 

Dumb  Betty — Kind  of  washing  machine,  B. 

Dumbwaiter — Small  elevator  from  kitchen  to  pan- 
try, 1864  (but  in  use  much  earlier).  The  dumb- 
waiter of  old  English  writers  was  quite  another 
thing. 

Dump — Throw  down  promiscuously,  1851. 

DuMPAGE — Privilege  of  dumping,  B. 

DuNFiSH — Codfish  cured  in  a  special  way,  B, 

Dungaree — Kind  of  vessel,  B. 

DuNKY — Awkwardly  thick,  B. 

PuRNED — Damned,  B. 


SOME      REAL      AMERICANISMS  2  55 

Duster — Overgarment  to  protect  ordinary  clothing 

from  dust,  1864. 
Dutchman — Piece  of  wood  or  stone  inserted  to  fill 

hollow,  B. 

E 

East  in  phrase  "about  east" — In  a  lively  way  (prior 

to  1855). 
Earhoop — Earring,  1808. 
Earlock — Hair  over  ear,  1855. 
Eartab — Covering  for  ear,  1855.     (I  think  older.) 
Eat— To  feed,  1842. 
Ebenezer — Irascibility,  1836. 
Editorial — Article  by  the  editor  of  the  journal  in 

which  it  appears. 
Electricute — Put  to  death  by  electric  shock. 
Ell — Extension  of  building  at  right  angles  to  main 

structure,  T. 
Enthuse — Become,  or  make,  enthusiastic,  1859. 

Very  vulgar. 
Episcopize — Bring  under  bishop's  authority,  1767. 
EscoPETTE — Kind  of  firearm,  1805. 
European  Plan   (hotel) — Charging  separately  for 

rooms  and  for  meals,  with  rules  rarely  found  in 

Europe,  and  formerly  not  found  there  at  all. 
EvENER — Whiffletree,  B. 

Evening — Afternoon,  B.     Heard  only  at  the  South. 
Eventuate — Occur,  happen,  work  out,  1789. 
Everglades — Swampy  grasslands,  1827. 


256  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Every  Which  Way — In  all  directions,  F. 

Evincive — Indicative,  1806. 

Exchangeability,  P. 

Exchanges — Periodicals  received  by  publishers  from 
other  publishers,  as  distinguished  from  those  paid 
for  in  money,  1848. 

Excursionist,  B. 

Executive — Chief  magistrate,  1787. 

Executive  (session) — Secret,  not  implying  executive 
business. 

Exercises — Proceedings  at  a  meeting,  1830. 

ExFLUNCT — Demolish,  1832. 

Express — Rapid  conveyance  of  merchandise  or  bag- 
gage by  companies  organized  for  that  purpose, 
1846. 


Faculate — Arrange,  B. 

Fair — Exhibition,  not  primarily  for  making   sales. 

Adopted  in  England ;  the  Westminster  Review  so 

used  the  word  as  long  ago  as  1881. 
Faker — Street  vendor  or  performer;  swindler,  T. 
Falling  Weather — Rainy  period,  B. 
Fallway — Opening  in  floor  for  hoisting  goods 

through,  B. 
Fan — Frequenter  of  athletic  contests. 
Fantail — Sternwheel  steamer,  C. 
Fat  (wood) — Resinous,  1808. 
Faze — Disturb,  embarrass,  1845. 


SOME      REAL     AMERICANISMS  257 

Feast — Fastidious,  B. 

Feather  (said  of  cream) — ^Separate  into  flakes,  1816. 

Feature — Display  something,  F. 

Federalist — Extinct  political  party,  P. 

Feel  Like  doing  something — Feel  inclined  to  do  it, 
1855. 

Fetch  (a  scream) — Utter,  F. 

Fetching — Pretty,  attractive.  I  doubt  whether  this 
piece  of  slang  is  of  American  origin.  Miss  Brad- 
don  used  it  in  "Asphodel,"  27.297  (1881). 

Fetch  Up — Stop  suddenly,  B. 

Fetterlock — Fetlock,  B. 

F.  F.  V. — First  families  of  Virginia. 

Fiat  Money — Irredeemable  paper  currency,  1880. 

FiENDiSHMENT — Fiendish  spirit. 

File — Cloth  for  washing  floor,  B. 

Fill — Embankment,  1850. 

FiLLiPEEN,  Philopena — Game  with  nuts  having  two 
kernels,  1857.     Much  older,  I  am  sure. 

Findings — Small  supplementary  materials. 

Fire  Away — Go  ahead,  B. 

Fire  Bug — Incendiary,  1872. 

Fire  Hunt — Hunting  with  light  as  decoy,  1826. 

Fish  Story — Incredible  statement,  1819. 

Fist  in  phrase  "to  make  a  fist" — To  succeed  or  fail, 
according  as  it  is  "a  good  fist"  or  "a  bad  fist." 

Fix  Up — Adjustment  of  difficulty,  B. 

Fixings — Arrangements,  embellishments,  food,  B. 

Fizzle — Ridiculous  failure,  1847. 


258  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Flat— Without  interest,  1841. 

Flats — Low  lands,  B. 

Flat  Broke — Penniless,  B. 

Flat  Out — Collapse,  B. 

Flatfooted — Downright,  resolutely,  1846. 

Fleabitten  (horse) — Dotted  with  specks,  F. 

Float — Preliminary  certificate  of  purchase  of  public 
land,  1837. 

Floats — Mineral  in  fine  powder,  T. 

Floater — Person  who  may  vote  either  way,  1883. 

Floodwood — Driftwood,  1822. 

Floor  in  phrase  "to  have  the  floor,"  have  right  to 
speak,  P. 

Floorwalker — Usher  and  overseer  in  a  store,  1884 
(I  think  older). 

Flow  age — Quantity  of  flow,  1830. 

Flubdub — Vapid  nonsense,  F. 

Flume — Channel  for  water,  1792. 

Flunky — 1.  Unsuccessful  speculator,  1841.  2.  Stu- 
dent who  fails  in  recitation,  1859. 

Flush — Well  supplied  with  money,  1840. 

Flutterwheel — Small  waterwheel,  B. 

Fly — Swamp,  B. 

Flyer — Venture,  speculation,  1870. 

FooFOO — Foolish  fellow,  B. 

Foot  (a  bill)— Pay  it,  1844. 

Foot  Hill — Hill  at  foot  of  mountain,  1873. 

Fork — Branch  of  road  or  river,  1753. 


SOME      REAL     AMERICANISMS  2  5^9 

Fork  Over — Give  or  pay  money,  B. 

Fork  Up — Pay,  B. 

Forwarding  Merchant — Dealer  who  receives  goods 

for   others   and   sends   them  elsewhere   for  sale, 

wholesaler,  B. 
Fraggle — Rob,  B. 
Frail— Beat,  1851. 
Frame  House — Wooden  house,  1784. 
Frame-up — Fraudulent  evidence  against  innocent 

person. 
Freestone  (peach) — Having  pulp  easily  detached 

from  stone,  F. 
Freeze — Frosty  weather,  "cold  snap,"  B. 
Freezer — Device  for  freezing  liquid.     (I  think  Bart- 

lett.  Farmer  and  Clapin  are  wrong  in  defining 

"a  refrigerator.") 
Freeze  Out — Compel  participant  in  an  undertaking 

to  retire,  1882. 
Freight — Goods  carried  by  rail  as  well  as  by  sea, 

1813. 
French,  Frenchy,  Frenching — Terms  indicating 

dislike. 
Frog — Iron  plate  joining  two  rails,  1860. 
Front  Name — Given  (or  "Christian")  name,  B. 
Frosted — Frost-bitten,  1807. 
Frowchey — Furbelowed  old  woman,  B. 
Fudge — Kind  of  candy,  C. 
Full  Chisel — At  full  speed,  1832, 


260  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

FuNDUM — Sea  bottom,  B. 
Furore — Vogue,  popular  passion. 
Fyke — Kind  of  net,  1679. 


G 

Gale — Semi-hysterical  excitement,  B. 

Gall — 1.  Low  land  in  Florida,  1776.     2.  Impu- 
dence, cheek,  1891. 

Gam — Social  visit,  B. 

Gander  P.*\rty — One  of  men  only,  B. 

Gang-Saw — Frame  holding  a  number  of  saws  paral- 
lel, 1821. 

Gangster — Member  of  a  band  of  city  rowdies. 

Ganty — Elegant,  1772. 

Gar  or  Alligator  Gar — Kind  of  fish,  1765. 

Garden  Truck — Vegetables  for  market,  B. 

Gavel — Mallet  used  by  chairman  of  meeting,  B. 

Gawnicus — Simpleton,  B. 

Gear  Up — Harness,  F. 

Gentile  (among  Mormons) — Persons  not  of  the 
faith,  B. 

German — Party  for  dancing  the  German  cotillion, 
1879. 

Gerrymander — Arrangement  of  political  divisions  to 
give  unfair  advantage  to  dominant  party,  1811. 

Get  Off  (a  speech) — Deliver,  1849. 

Get  Round — Bamboozle,  fool,  trick,  persuade,  cajole, 
B. 


SOME      REAL     AMERICANISMS  261 

Get  the  Mitten — Have  one's  suit  rejected,  1838. 

Get  There — Succeed,  C. 

Gibe,  Jibe — 1.  Bring  sailboat  into  wind,  1791.  2. 
Harmonize  with,  1857. 

GiGGiT — Convey  rapidly,  1862. 

GiMBAL  (jaw) — Loose  and  projecting,  B. 

Gin  Mill — Barroom,  B. 

GiNGERSNAP — Thin,  brittle  cake,  flavored  with  ginger. 

Girt — To  have  a  certain  girth  or  circumference,  T. 

GiSM — Spirit,  courage,  B. 

Git  (get) — Go,  clear  out,  B. 

GiT  (to  do  anything) — Be  permitted,  B. 

Give  Away — Betray,  1862. 

GiVY — Yielding  to  pressure,  B. 

Glare  (ice) — Very  smooth,  B. 

Go  in  phrase  "make  a  go  of  it — Succeed,  B. 

Goatee — Chin  whisker,  "imperial,"  1847. 

Go  Back  on  One — Desert,  leave  in  lurch,  1868. 

Gobbler — Male  turkey,  1800. 

Gobble  Up — Remove  thoroughly,  as  if  by  swallow- 
ing, 1861. 

Go  By — Call  on,  stop  at,  P. 

Go  For,  Go  in  For — Favor,  1834. 

Go  For — Attack  vigorously,  1838. 

Go  Off — Expire,  1856. 

Go  Off — Beginning;  "there  may  be  blunders  in  the 
go-off,"  C. 

Go  Through — 1.  Go  directly,  without  change,  as 
in  phrase,  "this  car  goes  through  to  Chicago,"  B. 


262  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

2.  Examine  person  thoroughly  and  rob  him  of 

whatever  the  assailant  wants,  1867. 
Go  Under,  Go  Up — Fail  completely,  B. 
Golly — Euphemistic  oath,  B. 
GoMBO,  Gumbo — A  plant,  and  soup  made  from  it, 

1810. 
Gone   Case,    Gone   Coon,   Gone   Gander,    Gone 

Goose,  Goner — Person  in  hopeless  misfortune 

or  fatally  ill. 
Goneness — Sensation  of  weakness,  1853. 
Gonus — Stupid  fellow,  B. 
G.  O.  P. — Republican  ("grand  old")  party,  F. 
Goose — To  repair  boots,  B. 
Goose  Egg — Zero,  failure,  C. 
Gopher — Kind  of  turtle;  mole,  B. 
Gossamer — Thin  waterproof  cloak,  F. 
Gospel  Lot — Lot  set  aside  for  church,  B. 
Gotham — New  York  City,  1800. 
Gouge — Cheat,  fraud,  robbery,  1845. 
Grab  Bag,  Grab  Box — One  containing  trifles,  from 

which  a  patron,  paying  a  fee,  may  make  selection 

by  feeling,  1864.     (I  think  older.) 
Gracious! — Equivalent   of   the    French    ejaculation 

"Mon  Dieu,"  B. 
Grade  (cattle) — Formerly  those  of  mixed  blood,  now 

restricted  to  those  having  thoroughbred  blood  on 

one  side  only,  F. 
Grade — To  reduce  to  even  slopes,  as  a  road  or  path, 

B. 


SOME      REAL     AMERICANISMS  263 

Grade  (of  a  road) — Degree  of  ascent  or  descent, 
1835. 

Grapt — To  repair  boots,  B. 

Graft — Dishonest  gain,  boodle,  1901. 

Grandacious,  Grandiferous — Magnificent,  B. 

Granger — Member  of  order  of  Patrons  of  Hus- 
bandry, farmer,  B. 

Grannified — Like  an  aged  person,  B. 

Granny — Improperly  tied  knot,  that  will  come  loose, 
1859. 

Gravy — Juice,  B. 

Grayback — Louse;  Confederate  soldier  in  rebellion 
of  1861. 

Greaser — Mexican,   1849. 

Greasewood — A  western  plant,  1845. 

Greenback — United  States  bill,  1862. 

Greenbackers — Extinct  political  party  favoring  ir- 
redeemable paper  currency,  1876. 

Green  Goods — Counterfeit  bills,  F. 

Griffin,  Griffe — Mulatto,  B.  The  British  griffin 
is  a  European  newly  arrived  in  India,  corre- 
sponding to  the  new-chum  of  Australia  and  the 
tenderfoot  of  our  own  wild  West. 

Grip,  Gripsack — Traveling  bag,  1880.     Vulgar. 

Grist — Large  number  or  quantity,  1833. 

Gritting — Grating  dry  grain  into  meal,  B. 

Gritty — Courageous,  determined,  1847. 

Grocery — Grocer's  establishment,  B. 

Groggery — Barroom  of  low  class,  1824. 


264  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Grog  Shop — Barroom,  1790. 

Ground  Bridge — Corduroy  road  on  bottom  of  stream 

to  facilitate  fording,  B. 
Ground  Hog — Woodchuck,  1789. 
Ground  Hog  Day — Candlemas,  Feb.  2,  B. 
Ground  Nut,  Ground  Pea — Peanut,  B. 
Ground  Sluicing — Process   of  removing  earth  by 

stream  of  water,  1859. 
Group    Meeting — Religious    meeting    running    for 

some  days  under  leaders  serving  in  rotation,  B. 
Grouty — 111  natured,  1836. 
Grov^ler — Vessel  in  which  beer  is  carried  from  a 

bar  room  by  a  customer,  to  drink  elsewhere,  C. 
Grub  Stake — Supplies  furnished  to  prospectors  in 

mining  districts  by  men  who  are  to  share  the 

profits,  F. 
Guano — Birds'  excrement  and  remains,  used  as  land 

fertilizer,  1604. 
Guava — West  Indian  fruit,  B. 
Gubernatorial — Pertaining  to  a  governor,  1734. 
Guff— Empty  talk,  1888.     (I  think  older.) 
Guider — Guidon,  B. 
Guinea  Keet — Guinea  fowl  or  egg,  B. 
Gulch  (originally  kolch) — Deep  ravine,  1832. 
Gum — Name  of  various  southern  trees. 
Gumbo — Kind  of  hard  soil,  1835. 
Gums — India  rubber  overshoes,  "rubbers,"  1859. 
Gum  a  Saw^ — Punch  out  the  teeth,  B. 
Gum  Game — Rascally  trick,  B. 


SOME      REAL     AMERICANISMS  265 

Gun — Pistol,  recent  vulgarism,  as  bad  as  the  British 
way  of  using  gun  to  designate  the  man  that  car- 
ries the  weapon. 

Gunning  a  Stock — Depressing  it,  B. 

Gurry — Preparation  of  fish  livers. 

Gush — Great  abundance. 

Gusher — Freely  flowing  well,  especially  of  oil,  1886. 

Guy— Make  fun  of,  1872. 

H 

Hackmatack — Larch  tree,  1792. 

Hail  From — Live  at,  B. 

Halfbreed — 1.  Person  of  mixed  blood,    1775.     2. 

Supporter  of  President  Garfield  in  1880. 
Half-Faced  Camp — Kind  of  forest  shelter,  B. 
Half  Jo — Portuguese  coin,  1772. 
Half-Widow — Woman  with  shiftless  husband,  B. 
Hamfatter — Poor  actor,  barnstormer,  F. 
Hand  Dog — Andiron,  B. 
Handglasses — Spectacles,   so   says    Bartlett,    but   I 

think  the  word  means  small  mirrors,  that  can  be 

held  in  the  hand. 
Handle — 1.  To  overcome  opponent,  B.     2.  To  deal 

in,  1888. 
Handw^rite — Handwriting,  B. 
Hang  of  a  Thing,  to  Get — To  master  it,  learn  how 

to  do  it,  1845. 
Hang-Bird — Oriole,  1851. 


266  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Hang  'Round — Loiter  about,  B. 

Hang  Up — Trust  for  goods;  get  something  on  credit. 

Hannahill — Black  sea  bass,  B. 

Hant — Ghost,  F. 

Hard  Case — Dissipated,  worthless  fellow,  1842. 

Hard  (cider) — Fermented,  intoxicating,  1840. 

Hard  Coal,  Soft  Coal — Anthracite  and  bituminous 

respectively. 
Hardhack — A  plant,  B. 
Hard  Money — Coin,  F. 
Hardpan — Stratum   of  earth,   not  rock,  but   almost 

equally  impervious  to  water,  1821. 
Hardshell    Baptists — Those   holding   strongly   to 

certain  doctrines,  1842. 
Hardshell    Democrats — Adherents    of    the   party 

who  see  no  virtue  in  any  other,  B. 
Hardtack — Dry  biscuit,  B. 
Harm  as  adjective — Disrespectful,  unkind;  "he  never 

said  a  harm  word  of  you,"  B. 
Harsel  Stuff — Household  stuff,  B. 
Hay  Barrack — Unenclosed  shelter  for  hay,  B. 
Hayseed — Countryman,  T. 
Head  Off — Turn  from  his  purpose,  C. 
Headcheese — Preparation  of  head  and  feet  of  swine, 

B. 
Headrights — Rights  to  land  under  certain   condi- 
tions, B. 
Hear  To  (generally  with  negative) — To  be  willing 

to  consider 


SOME      REAL     AMERICANISMS  267 

Heeled — x\rmed,  F. 

Heeler — Hanger  on,  parasite,  1881. 

Heir — To  inherit,  F. 

Hellbender — 1.  Kind    of    salamander,     1812.     2. 

Indefinite  meaning;  "a  hellbender  of  a  spree,"  B. 
Hellbox — Receptacle  for  rubbish,  F. 
Hellion — Hell  hound,  irredeemable  villain,  1830. 
Hen-Hussy — Effeminate  man,  C. 
Hen  Party — Gathering  of  women  only,  F. 
Herd's  Grass — Name  of  a  variety,  1747. 
Hessian — Fighter  for  pay,  ruffian,  B. 
Hessian  Fly — Insect  destructive  to  grain,  B. 
Hewgag — College  word  of  unascertainable  meaning, 

1855. 
Hickory — Gary  a  tree,  1705. 
Hickory  Shirt — Coarse  garment  worn  by  laborers, 

1857. 
Hide  and  Coop — Hide  and  Seek,  1850. 
HiFER — To  loiter,  B. 
Highbinder — Contemptuous  appellation  for  various 

disreputable  classes,  1806. 
Highbrow^ — Intellectual  person,  recent  slang. 
HiGHFALUTiN — Bombastic  talk,  1848. 
High  Muck-a-Muck — Person  of  importance,  F. 
High-Studded — Airy,  affected,  B. 
HiGH-ToNED — Aristocratic,  C. 
HiGHWiNES — Form  of  impure  alcohol,  1881. 
Hike — To  walk  vigorously,  1872. 
Hindsight — Antithesis  of  foresight,  F. 


268  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Hitch  Up — Harness  horses,  1857. 

Hither  and  Yon — Here  and  there,  P. 

Hock — To  pawn. 

HoECAKE — Cake  of  Indian  meal,  baked  before  fire, 

1787. 
Hog  Age — Age  between  boyhood  and  manhood,  B. 
Hog  Mane — Mane  cut  short,  1767. 
Hog  Minder — Swineherd,  B. 
HoGWALLOW — Special  kind  of  crack  in  surface  of 

earth,  1840. 
Hold  On — Wait,  stop,  B. 

Hold  Over — Have  the  advantage  of  an  opponent,  C. 
Hold  Up — Robbery,  with  threat  of  violence,  1887. 
Honeyeogle — To  humbug,  swindle,  mislead,  B. 
Hoodlum — Rowdy,  1868. 
Hoodoo — Something  bringing  bad  luck,  reverse  of 

mascot,  1889. 
Hook — Small  cape  in  river  or  bay,  1832. 
Hook  in  phrase   "on   one's   own   hook" — For   one's 

self,  independently,  1812. 
Hookey,  to  play — To  play  truant,  B. 
HooPLE — Child's  plaything,  hoop  for  trundling,  B. 
Hoosier — Indianian,  B. 

Hooter — Trifle,  perhaps  corruption  of  iota,  1839. 
HoppERCAR — Car  shaped  like  hopper  of  mill,  B. 
Hoptoad — Child's  word  for  toad,  1827. 
HoRNSWOGGLE — Foolery,  deception,  1852. 
Horsecar — Car  drawn  by  horses  or  to  carry  horses, 

B. 


SOME      REAL     AMERICANISMS  269 

Horse  Railroad — The  British  tramway,  1858. 

Horse  Sense — Practical  wisdom,  1833. 

Hot    Slaw — Hot    cole-slaw.     From    corruption    of 

cole-slaw  into  cold  slaw,  just  as  highbelia  was 

formed  from  misunderstanding  of  the  name  of 

the  plant  lobelia. 
Housekeep — To  keep  house,  B. 
Howdy — Desideratum  accomplished,  B. 
Hubbles — Rough  places,  C. 
Huckleberry — A  plant  and  its  fruit,  1670. 
Huckster — Peddler,  C. 
HuLY — Uproar,  B. 
Hump  (one's  self) — Bestir,  F, 
Hunk  in  phrase  ''all  hunk,"  which  means  all  right, 

safe,  prosperous,  B. 
Hunk — Very  fine,  tiptop,  B. 
HuNKiDORY — All  right,  B. 
Hurra's  Nest — Confusion,  disorder,  1829. 
Hurricane  Deck — Highest  deck  of  steamer,  1835. 
HuRRYMENT — Confused  haste,  B. 
Husking — Stripping  husks  from  Indian  corn,  B. 
Husky — Strong,  1910. 
Hustle — Bestir  one's  self  vigorously,  1890. 
Hyper — To  bustle,  B. 
Hyst— Violent  fall,  B. 


I  Dad — ^Meaningless  ejaculation,  B. 

Idea — Opinion.     "I  have  an  idea  that  he  has  gone,' 


270  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Inaugural — Address  on  taking  office,  B. 

Inaugurate — Begin,  B. 

Inclined  in  phrase  "inclined  to" — Incline. 

Indian  Corn — Maize,  1621. 

Indian  File — Single  file,  1791. 

Indian  Giver — Person  who  takes  back  what  he  has 
given,  B. 

Indian  Summer — St.  Martin's  Summer,  1794. 

Indiscipline — Absence  of  discipline,  1783. 

Inflationist — Advocate  of  indefinite  expansion  of 
irredeemable  currency,  1877. 

Informatory — Giving  information,   1862. 

Infract — Break,  infringe  on,  1798. 

In  Interest — Interested  in  the  matter,  F. 

Injunct — Forbid  by  injunction,  1880.  (I  think 
older.)  A  better  word  than  enjoin  when  for- 
bidding is  meant.  The  lawyers  have  reversed  the 
meaning  of  enjoin. 

Inside  Of — In  less  time  than,  1877. 

Inside  Track — Advantageous  position,  B. 

Institute — Meeting,  convention,  1881. 

Intervale — Low  alluvial  land  along  river,  1653. 

Intervievv^er — 1869. 

Into  (with  some  figure) — Within;  "I  had  enough 
money  into  six  cents,"  B. 

Inty — Certainly,  B. 

Irish  (potato) — White,  B. 

Irreliability — Untrustworthiness,  1862. 

Issuance — Act  of  issuing,  1865. 


some    real    americanisms       27 1 

Itemize — 1864. 
Itemizer — 1860. 


Jackstones — Child's  game,  B. 

Jag — Spree,  C. 

Jam  Up— 1.  Crowded,  1825.     2.  "Slap  up,"  "bang 
up,"  extra  fine,  1853. 

Jamboree — Frolic,  row,  B. 

Jayhawker — Guerilla,  1856. 

Jell — Harden  into  jelly,  1830. 

Jerked  (meat) — Dried,  B. 

Jessie  in  phrase  to  "give  him  Jessie,"  i.e.,  belabor 
him,  literally  or  figuratively,  1844. 

Jibe — Variant  of  gibe. 

Jig — Artificial  squid,  for  trolling,  1858. 

Jigger — Small  fishing  vessel,  B. 

Jiggered — Euphemistic  oath. 

Jigsaw — Vertical  saw,  operated  by  treadle  or  power, 
1873. 

JiMBERjAV^ED — Having  projecting  lower  jaw,  1834. 

Jim  Crow  Cars — Cars  for  negroes  only,  1900. 

JiMDANDY — Superfine,  F. 

JiMjAMS — Delirium  tremens,  B. 

JiMSON   (Jamestown)   Weed — Stramonium,   1687. 

Jitney — Five  cent  piece;  bus  on  which  the  fare  is  5 
cents,  1912. 

Jobbing    House — Wholesale    mercantile    establish- 
ment, B. 


272  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

John — Chinaman,  1857. 

Johnny — ''Confederate"  soldier  in  rebellion  of  1861. 

JoHNNYCAKE — Cake  of  Indian  meal,  1775. 

Joint — Establishment  of  ill  repute,  1883. 

Josh — Joke  with,  make  fun  of,  1891. 

Jour — Journeyman,  B. 

Joy-Ride — Ride  for  pleasure,   with  connotation   of 

some  irregularity  or  impropriety,  1909. 
JuBA — Negro,  negro  dance,  1834. 
Judgmatical — Judicious,  1774. 
Judy — Fool,  B. 

Jump  Bail — Forfeit  it  by  absconding,  B. 
Jumper — 1.  Kind  of  sled,  1823.     2.  Man's  jacket, 

1853. 
Jumping-Off  Place — End  of  everything,  1826. 
Jury-Fixer — Briber  of  juryman,  1882. 

K 

Karimpton — Squad,  B. 

Katowse — Din,  tumult,  rumpus,  B, 

Katydid — An  insect,  1800. 

Kay  or  Key — Islet  in  the  sea,  B. 

Keen  about — Fond  of;  recent  slang. 

Keener — Shrewd  person,  B. 

Keeps,  To  Play  for — To  play  for  stakes  which  the 

winner  keeps,  T. 
Ker — Prefix,  intensifying  violent  action,  1852. 
Kerosene — Petroleum  refined  for  burning,  B. 


SOME      REAL     AMERICANISMS  273 

KiBLiNGS — Small  fish  used  for  bait,  B. 

Kicker — Objector,  independent,  1799. 

Kill — Arm  of  the  sea,  stream,  B. 

KiLLDEER — Kind  of  bird,  B. 

KiNDLERS,  Kindlings — Small  pieces  of  wood  for 
starting  fire,  B. 

Kingbolt — Part  of  wagon,  B. 

Kinky — Eccentric,  crotchety,  B. 

KiNNiKiNNiCK,  Killikinnick — Preparation  of  to- 
bacco, B. 

Kittycornered — Diagonally,  C. 

KiusE — Native  pony,  B. 

Knickerbockers — Short  breeches,  B. 

Knock — Express  disapproval  of. 

Knock-Down — Steal  part  of  another  person's  money 
that  has  been  entrusted  to  the  thief,  1882.  (I 
think  older.) 

Knownothings — Extinct  political  party,  1853. 

KoNK — Same  as  conk. 

Ku  Klux  Klan — Secret  association  of  southern 
whites  after  close  of  rebellion,   1866. 


Lagniappe — Small  gift  to  customer,  brottus,  1853. 
Landscrip^ — Certificate  that  buyer  of  public  land  has 

made  payment,  1862. 
Lapstreak — Clinker-built  boat,  1771. 
Lariat — Rope  for  catching  animals,  lasso,  B. 


274  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Larrigan — Kind  of  moccasin,  C. 

Latter-Day  Saints — Mormons,  B. 

Lave — Get  up,  B. 

Law  Sakes — For  the  Lord's  sake,  B. 

Lay — Terms  of  bargain,  price,  B. 

Lay  Out — 1.  An  outfit,  1867.  2.  Define  bound- 
aries and  subdivisions,  1748.  3.  Reduce  to 
helplessness,  1829.     4.  Intend,  B. 

Layering — Reproducing  (as  strawberries)  by  run- 
ners, 1799. 

Laze— To  idle,  F. 

Leader — Attachment  of  fish-hook  to  line,  B. 

Leggins — Wrappers  for  legs,  B. 

Lengthy — Rather  long,  "longish,"  1793.  Used  by 
Dickens  (in  "American  Notes,"  to  be  sure, 
but)  in  a  way  to  lead  one  to  infer  that  the  term 
was  familiar  to  him,  as  he  hated  Americanisms 
and  seldom  if  ever  used  one  without  calling  at- 
tention to  the  country  of  its  origin.  It  may  be 
old  English. 

Let  Down — Descent,  fall,  drop,  B. 

Let  Up — Release,  relief,  1837. 

Levee — Dike,  embankment  along  river,  1797. 

Levy — Elevenpence,  1832. 

Lick — Place  where  animals  lick  the  soil,  1751. 

Licks — Efforts,  B. 

LicKETYSPLiT — Headlong,  B. 

Lie  Low — Keep  quiet  and  w^atch,  B. 

Light  Bread — Bread  made  with  yeast,  B. 


SOME      REAL     AMERICANISMS  275 

LiGHTNiNG-BuG — Firefly,  1797. 

Light  Out — Decamp,  1878.     (I  believe  it  to  be  very 

much  older.) 
LiGHTWOOD — Wood  that  burns  readily,  1705. 
Lily  Pad — Water-lily  leaf,  B. 
Line — Route  of  railroad,  coach  or  steamer,  B. 
Liner — Steamer  running  regularly  on  settled  route, 

B. 
Lines — Reins,  B. 

List — Method  of  cultivating  crops,  B. 
Live  Oak — Quercus  virens,  1610. 
Living  Price,  Living  Wage — One  at  which  a  living 

can  be  made. 
Living-Room — Family  parlor,  B. 
Live  Out — Be  a  servant,  B. 
Loaf — Idle  away  one's  time,  B. 
Loafer — Idle  vagabond,  1835. 
Lobby — Influence  legislation  by  cajolery  or  bribery. 

Also  collective  word  for  persons  who  make  busi- 
ness of  so  doing. 
LoBBYGOVV^ — A  "pal"  in  a  bad  sense,  October,  1912. 
Loblolly — Kind  of  tree,  1775. 
Localize — Prepare  local  items  for  newspaper,  1861. 
Lock  Horns — Engage  in  desperate  combat,  1839. 
Loco — Disease  of  cattle,  believed  to  come  from  eating 

loco-weed,  F. 
LocoFOCO — 1.  Friction  match,  1834.     2.  Old  name 

for  Democratic  party,  1835. 
Locust — Kind  of  tree,  1640. 


276  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Logger — ^Lumberman,  1857. 

LoGiES — Poor  codfish,  B. 

LoG-RoLLiNG — Co-operation,  whether  physical 
(1833)  or  political  (1821). 

Logy — Heavy,  dull,  stupid,  B. 

Long  of  a  stock — Holding  it,  B. 

Longshoreman — Stevedore,  B. 

LoNGSHORT — A  woman's  garment,  1851. 

Long  Sugar,  Long  Sweetening — ^Molasses,  B. 

Loon — Kind  of  bird,  B. 

Looseness — Absence  of  restraint,  1836. 

Lop  Dow^n — Settle  down  carelessly,  1840. 

Lost  Cause — The  southern  rebellion  of  1861. 

Lot — Piece  of  land,  1661. 

Lots — A  large  number  or  quantity,  B. 

Low  Down — Degraded,  contemptible,  1850  .. 

Low  Flung — Very  degraded,  1843. 

Lugs — 1.  Tobacco  leaves  prepared  for  market,  B. 
2.  Airs,  style,  in  phrase  "to  put  on  lugs,"  1902. 

Lumber — Timber,  1663. 

Lump  It — ^Meaningless  phrase  used  only  in  anti- 
thesis to  like  it,  1833.  There  is  however  an  old 
English  verb  lump,  to  look  sulky. 

Lunkhead — Stupid  fellow,  1889. 


M 

Ma'am  School — One  kept  by  woman,  B. 
Machine — Political  organization,  1876. 


SOME      REAL     AMERICANISMS  277 

Mackinack — Kind  of  blanket,  1839. 

Madstone — Stone  supposed  to  heal  bite  of  mad  dog, 

1864. 
Maidenland — ^Land  that  a  man  gets  with  his  wife 

and  loses  at  her  death,  B. 
Mail — Matter  sent  through  post-office,  B. 
Maize — Indian  corn,  1598. 
Make  or  Make  Out — Grow,  extend ;  said  of  point  of 

land  running  out  into  water,  sometimes  of  forests 

or  hills  extending  into  plain. 
Make  Good— Accomplish  an  unstated  purpose,  suc- 
ceed, do  what  is  expected  of  one,  "get  there," 

1911. 
Make  Time — Proceed  rapidly,  1842. 
Make  Tracks — Go,  run,  1833. 
Mammy — Negro  nurse,  B. 
Mango — Preparation  of  green  muskmelon,  B. 
Marabou — Person  having  a  certain  small  proportion 

of  negro  blood,  B. 
Marooning — Picnicking,  P. 
Marywalkers — Trousers  worn  by  women,  F. 
Mash — To  engage,  said  of  cog-wheels,  B. 
Masher — Person  who  forces  attention  on  women,  F, 
Mass  Meeting — Gathering  of  people  for  specified 

purpose,  1840. 
Match — Set  fire  to,  B. 
Maul — Make,  prepare,  1677. 
Mavericks — Unbranded  cattle,  B. 
Max — ^Make  best  possible  (maximum)  recitation,  B. 


278  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Mean — Unkind,  disobliging,  or  (in  the  case  of  ani- 
mals) vicious. 

Medium — Person  through  whom  come  messages  from 
ghosts,  B. 

Menhaden — Kind  of  herring,  1792. 

Mesa — Elevated  plain,  1795. 

Mestizo — Half  breed,  1582. 

Metis — Offspring  of  white  person  and  quadroon,  B. 

Mick — Irishman. 

Middlings — Coarse  flour;  part  of  a  porker,  B, 

Midget — Sand  fly,  B. 

Mileage — 1.  Allowance  for  traveling  expenses,  1754. 
2.  Tickets  giving  right  to  travel  on  railroad  to  a 
certain  limit  of  miles,  generally  500  or  1000. 

Mill — Tenth  of  a  cent. 

Mind — To  remind,  B. 

Mink — Small  fur  bearing  animal,  B. 

Minuteman — Person  ready  for  service  at  a  minute's 
notice,  1774. 

Miscegenation — Intermarriage  between  whites  and 
blacks,  1864. 

Mission  School — School  for  poor  children,  B. 

Missionate — Act  as  missionary,  1816. 

Misstep — Wrong  step,  stumble,  1837. 

Mitten,  To  Get — To  be  rejected  by  a  lady,  1838. 

Mixed  Ticket — Election  ticket  voting  for  candidates 
of  different  parties,  F.  The  term  itself,  as  ap- 
plied to  railroad  tickets  partly  of  one  class  and 


SOME      REAL     AMERICANISMS  279 

partly  of  another,  is  familiar  to  all  Englishmen 
who  travel  on  the  Continent. 

Mock  Auction — Auction  characterized  by  fraud,  B. 

Moke — Negro,  1871. 

Molly  Maguires — Anarchistic  society  in  coal  re- 
gion, B. 

Monitor — Small  iron-clad  vessel  with  turret,  1862. 

Monkey — Weight  of  pile-driver,  B. 

Monkey  Business — Foolish  trifling,  C. 

Monkey  Shines — Semi-mischievous  or  playful 
tricks,  1847. 

Monte — Game  with  cards,  B. 

Moondov^n — Time  of  moon's  setting,  B. 

Moonglade — Track  of  moonlight  on  water,  B. 

MoPBOARD — Horizontal  board  inside  house,  at  base 
of  wall,  B. 

Mortician — Undertaker,  1896. 

Moses  Boat — 1765. 

Mosey — To  move,  1836. 

MossBACK — Person  "behind  the  times,"  1850. 

Mossbunker — Fish  resembling  herring,  1818. 

Moth  Miller — Flying  form  of  clothes  moth,  B. 

MoTTE — Clump  of  trees  in  open  country,  1844. 

Mountain  Lamb — Deer  killed  out  of  season,  C. 

Mourner — Penitent  at  religious  meeting,  B. 

Movie — Moving  picture;  recent. 

Mucker — Coarse  fellow,  C. 

MucKRAKER — Person  who  delights  to  turn  up  scandal 

Mud  Hen — Female  speculator  in  stocks,  1876. 


28o  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Mud  Hook — Anchor,  B. 

Mugwump — Independent  in  politics,  1835. 

MuLEY  Saw — "Mill  saw  not  hung  in  the  gate,"  B. 

MuNG  (news) — Confused,  unintelligible,  1844. 

Murphy — White  potato,  B. 

Mush — Porridge,  1671. 

MusKRAT,  Musquash — Beaver-like  animal,  1624. 

MussY — Disordered,  dirty,  B. 

Mustang — Wild  prairie  horse,  1808. 

Muster  Out  (troops) — Discharge,  B. 

Must  Not,  Must  Only,  for  may  not,  may  only, 
when  the  speaker  intends,  not  to  say  that  there  is 
no  obligation,  but  to  say  that  the  doing  of  the 
thing  is  prohibited,  or  prohibited  except  under 
conditions.  (As  in  the  case  of  cannot  or  can 
only  for  may  not  or  may  only,  I  am  not  sure  that 
this  is  distinctively  an  American  error.) 

Muttonhead — Stupid  fellow,  B. 

N 

Nail — To  arrest,  B. 

Naked  (Possessor) — Undisputed,  de  facto,  B. 

Nary — Ne'er  a,  B. 

Nary  Red — Not  a  cent,  1857. 

Neck  of  the  Woods — Place,  not  implying  proximity 

of  forest,  1851. 
Necktie  Sociable — Hanging  by  vigilance  committee, 

1878. 


SOME      REAL     AMERICANISMS  28 1 

Neckwear — Collars  and  neckties,  F. 

Neighborhood  Of  (with  quantity  or  number) — 
Near,  about,  as  "in  the  neighborhood  of  forty 
acres,"  1857. 

Nerve — Courage,  independence,  cheek. 

Netop — Crony,  1816. 

N.  G. — No  go,  no  good,  F. 

Nicely  (said  of  a  person's  health) — Well. 

Nickel — Half  dime  made  of  that  metal,  B. 

Nifty — Fine,  stylish,  1868. 

Nig — Revoke  at  cards,  cheat,  1829. 

Niggerhead — 1.  Kind  of  tobacco,  B.  2.  Tussock 
above  surface  of  swamp,  1859. 

Nigger  Heaven — Highest  gallery  in  theatre,  T. 

Nigger  Off — Do  something  with  large  logs,  1834. 

Nigger  Out  (land) — Exhaust,  B. 

Nigh  Unto,  Nigh  Upon — Almost,  B. 

NiGHTKEY — Latchkey,  F. 

Night  Riders — Marauders  operating  in  gangs  at 
night,  1909. 

NiMSHi — Fool,  1853. 

Ninepence — Twelve  and  a  half  cents,  the  old  "shil- 
ling" of  New  York,  1828. 

Nip  and  Tuck — About  even,  1833. 

NipPENT — Independent,  B. 

NocAKE — Parched  meal,  B. 

Non-committal — Refusing  to  commit  one's  self, 
1841. 

Noodlehead — Fool,  C, 


282  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Norther — Cold  north  wind,  1844. 

Northerner — Resident  of  a  northern  state,  1840. 

Note — Joke,  B. 

Notion  ATE — Fanciful,  B. 

Nub  (of  a  story) — Point,  gist,  B. 

Nutcake — Doughnut,  B. 

Nutmeg  Melon — Cantaloupe,  C. 

O 

Oak  Barrens — Straggling  oak  forests,  B. 

Oak  Openings — Forests  of  stunted  oaks,  B. 

OccuRRiNGS — Occurrences,  B. 

Octoroon — Offspring  of  white  and  quadroon,  B. 

Off  the  Reel — Immediately. 

Offal — Inferior,  but  edible,  parts  of  animal,  B. 

Offish — Unapproachable,  unfriendly,  1842. 

Off  Ox — Contrary  person,  B. 

Offset — Deduction  from  account,  claimed  by  debtor, 

P. 
O.  K.— All  right,  1790. 

Okra — The  plant  otherwise  called  gumbo,  B. 
Old  Glory — The  national  flag,  C. 
Old  Scratch — The  devil,  B. 
Old  Sledge — A  game,  1838. 
Olycook — Fried  cake,  B. 

Omnibus  (bill) — One  covering  many  subjects,  1842. 
On  a  certain  street,  where  the  English  would  say  "in" 

it.     In  many  cases,  as  in  saying  that  "I  live  on 


SOME      REAL     AMERICANISMS         283 

Sixth  Street,"  the  American  practice  is  obviously 
to  be  preferred.  One  does  not  live  "in"  the  street, 
unless  one  is  a  low-down  vagrant.  And  if  it  be 
said  that  it  is  true  that  you  live  in  a  house  but 
the  house  is  itself  in  the  street  on  which  it  abuts, 
it  follows  that  London  is  not  on  the  Thames  but 
in  it,  the  situation  being  exactly  the  same.  Also 
the  American  practice  has  the  authority  of  Car- 
lyle,  "Wilhelm  Meister,"  1.3  and  5.13. 

On  Hand — Present,  B. 

On  Time— Prompt,  1848. 

Oodles — Abundance,  B. 

Opossum — An  animal,  B. 

Opposed  in  phrase  'T  am  opposed  to" — Oppose,  P. 

Organic  Lav^ — Charter,  constitution,  1849. 

Out  superfluous  after  various  verbs,  notably  try,  help, 
win,  lost,  start,  as  in  phrases  to  "try  out"  some- 
thing, to  help  a  person  "out,"  to  "win  out,"  and 
so  on.  I  am  not  sure  that  this  is  an  American 
peculiarity,  and  hope  to  learn  that  I  am  wrong 
in  listing  it  here;  but  I  have  never  heard  it  in 
Great  Britain,  or  seen  it  in  any  printed  piece  of 
British  Slang. 

Outfit — Supply  of  necessaries,  1869. 

Outlaw^ed  (debt) — One  of  which  payment  cannot  be 
enforced,  on  account  of  lapse  of  time  since  it  ac- 
crued, 1850. 

Out  of  Fix,  Out  of  Whack — In  disorder,  B. 

Outs — Persons  not  holding  office,  B. 


284  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Outside — Beyond,  beside,  except,  C. 

Overhead — Group  of  business  expenses  (rent,  inter- 
est, fuel  and  the  like)  not  readily  divisible  among 
the  products;  recent. 

Overslaugh — Bar  in  river,  1776. 

Own  Up— Confess,  1862. 

P 

PA.A.S — Easter,  B. 

Pack — Transport  in  packs,  carry,  1844. 

Paddle — Spank,  1856. 

Painter — Panther,  1803. 

Pair — Agreement  of  two  persons,  of  opposite  views, 
that  neither  of  them  will  vote,  F. 

Palace  Car — Pullman,  B. 

Paleface — White  person  as  distinguished  from  In- 
dian, 1822. 

Palmetto — A  plant,  1555. 

Pandowdy — Bread  and  apples  baked  together,  1846. 

Panel  House — House  of  prostitution  and  robbery, 
B. 

Panhandle — Part  of  a  state  resembling  in  shape  that 
article. 

Panhandle — To  beg  on  the  street. 

Panfish — Fish  adapted  to  frying,  1833. 

Panning — Separation  of  gold  from  earth,  B. 

Pan  Out— To  result,  1881. 

Pantalette — Ornamental  addition  to  girls'  drawers, 
1846. 


SOME      REAL     AMERICANISMS         285 

Pappoose — Indian  baby,  P. 

Pard — Partner,  friend,  1854. 

Parquet — Part  of  first  floor  of  theatre,  F. 

Partyism,  1844. 

Pass  (a  dividend) — Decide  not  to  pay  it,  B. 

Passage  (of  a  bill) — Enactment,  P. 

Passageway — Aisle,  gangway,  passage,  F. 

Patentable,  B. 

Patent  Outsides — Newspaper  sheets  furnished  to 
publishers  with  one  side  already  printed  with  mis- 
cellaneous matter  and  advertisements,  the  pub- 
lisher putting  what  he  likes  on  the  other  side,  F. 

Patrolman — Police  officer  of  lowest  grade,  F. 

Patroons — Grantees  of  land  under  Dutch  govern- 
ment, and  their  successors,  1758. 

Pawky — Out  of  health,  C. 

Pay  Dirt — Gold-bearing  earth  that  pays  for  work- 
ing, 1857. 

P.  D.  Q. — Pretty  deuced  quick,  F. 

Peach — Fine  thing,  "daisy,"  T, 

Peach  Leather — Edible  preparation  of  peaches,  B. 

Peanut — Fruit  of  Arachis  hypogcea,  1826. 

Pecan — Kind  of  nut,  1773. 

Peccary — Native  pig,  B. 

Peeler — Crab  just  about  to  shed  shell,  B. 

Peel  It — Run  fast,  B. 

Peevy — Wooden  lever,  B. 

Peg  Away — Work  industriously,  B. 

Pegged  Out — Used  up,  B. 


286  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Pelter — Dealer  in  skins,  1856. 

Pemmican — Preparation  of  meat,  B. 

Penny— Cent,  1833. 

Pentway — Private  road,  generally  kept  closed,  B. 

Peon — ^Laborer  in  Mexico  and  Central  America,  B. 

Pepperpot — Kind  of  stew,  1704. 

Periauger,  Pirogue  (and  various  other  spellings) — 
Kind  of  canoe,  1666. 

Peroot — Ramble,  explore,  1856. 

Persimmon — Kind  of  fruit,  1648. 

Pesky — Confounded,  plaguy,  1830. 

Peter  Funk — By-bidder  at  auction,  knavish  auc- 
tioneer, 1854. 

Peter  Out — Become  exhausted,  1854. 

Piazza — Veranda,  1787. 

Picayune — Small  southern  coin,  obsolete,  1819. 

Pick  (banjo  or  guitar) — Play. 

PiCKANNiNNY — ^Negro  baby,  B. 

Pick-up  (meal) — One  consisting  of  fragments  on 
hand,  B. 

Piece — Impromptu  and  very  simple  lunch,  B. 

Pieplant — Rhubarb,  B. 

PiGEONWiNG — Evolution  in  dancing,  1807. 

Pike — 1.  Highway,  1852.     2.  Rural  vagrant,  1856. 

Pile — A  lot  of  money,  F. 

Pill — Disagreeable  person,  B. 

PiLLovi^SLip — Pillowcase,  B. 

Pinch — Narrowing  of  ore  vein,  1869. 

Pinch — To  arrest. 


SOME      REAL     AMERICANISMS  287 

PiNDLiNG — ^Weak  and  growing  weaker,  B. 

Pine  Barrens — Sandy  tracts  with  some  pine  trees, 
1775. 

Pinery — Plantation  of  pine,  1822. 

Pinky — Kind  of  boat,  B. 

Pinxter — Whitsunday,  B. 

Pipe — Follow,  waylay,  B. 

Pipe  Laying — Getting  votes  of  persons  not  entitled 
to  franchise,  1840.     Obsolete  in  this  sense. 

Pistareen — Petty  coin,  obsolete,  1764. 

Pit — Stone  of  cherry  or  peach. 

PiTPAN — Kind  of  canoe,  B. 

Place  (a  man) — Identify,  1855. 

Placer — Locality  where  gold  is  found,  1846. 

Plaguy — Troublesome,  annoying,  B. 

Plank — Section  of  political  platform  or  statement  of 
principles,  1850. 

Plank  Down,  Plank  Up  (money) — Pay,  B. 

Plant — Bury,  F. 

Played  Out — Exhausted,  used  up,  1862. 

Play  Possum — Pretend  to  be  dead,  harmless  or  in- 
different, 1824. 

Pleasant  Spoken — Agreeable  in  talk,  B. 

Plug — Worthless  horse. 

Plug  Hat — High  silk  hat,  "beaver,"  B. 

Pluguglies — Baltimore  rowdies,  1857. 

Plumb  Centre — The  very  centre,  B. 

Plunk — Dollar. 

Plurality — Excess  of  votes  over  those  given  for  any 


288  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

other  single  candidate,  when  more  than  two  run, 

1828. 
Pocket — Earth  cavity  filled  with  precious  metal,  B. 
Point — Information  for  one's  guidance,  B. 
Poke — Device  preventing  cattle  from  jumping  fences, 

1828. 
Poker — A  card  game,  B. 
PoKERiSH — Seemingly  fit  for  ghosts,  1827. 
Policy — A  gambling  game,  B. 
Pone — Kind  of  Indian  meal  bread,  1634. 
Pony — Translation,  dishonestly  used,  1832. 
Pony  Up— Pay,  1824. 
Pool — Combine  interests,  1879. 
Pop  (corn) — Roast  till  kernels  pop  open,  1854. 
Pop  Eyed — Having  prominent  eyes,  B. 
Poppycock — Ridiculous  nonsense,  1865.     (I  think 

older.) 
Populist — Member  of  political  party  so-called,  1892. 
PoRGY — Kind  of  fish,  B. 
Portage — Carrying-place  between  bodies  of  water, 

1698. 
Porterhouse  Steak,  1843. 
Posey- Yard — Flower  garden,  B. 
Post— Inform,  1850. 
Postal  Currency — National  bills  for  sums  less  than 

a  dollar,  bearing  when  first  issued  representations 

of  postage  stamps,  about  1861. 
Post  Card — Card  for  transmission  by  mail  uncov- 
ered, privately  printed.     (Cards   issued  by  the 


SOME     REAL     AMERICANISMS         289 

government,  and  not  requiring  the  affixing  of 
stamps,  are  called  postal  cards  in  the  United 
States.) 

PoTPiE — Kind  of  meat  pie,  1792. 

Pound  Party — Donation  party  where  everybody 
brings  a  pound  of  something. 

Powder  Post — Injury  to  timber  by  worm  that  leaves 
holes  full  of  powder,  B. 

Powerful — Great,  very,  1833. 

Powwow — Uproarious  meeting,  1659. 

Prairie — Vast  treeless  plain,  1773. 

Prairie  Dog — Marmot,  1805. 

Prairie  Hen — Pinnated  grouse,  1805. 

Prairie  Schooner — Large  covered  wagon,  1858. 

Prawchey — Talk,  gossip,  B. 

Pre-empt — Secure  ownership  of  public  land  by  set- 
tling on  it  under  prescribed  conditions,  1857. 

Present  (written  on  back  of  envelope) — Give  this  to 
the  addressee,  whom  you  know  where  to  find. 
Or  sometimes  considered  as  an  adjective,  mean- 
ing  that   the   person   is   in   the    same   town   or 
'  city. 

Presidio — Military  post,  B. 

Presume  Likely — Think  probably;  'T  presume 
likely  that's  true." 

Prex — College  president,  1828. 

Prickly  Heat — Cutaneous  eruption,  1736. 

Primary — Election  of  delegates  to  political  conven- 
tion, 1821. 


290  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Prince  Albert  (coat) — Frock,  C. 

Printer Y — Printing  establishment,  B. 

Probate  (will) — Obtain  sanction  by  judicial  officer, 

thus  giving  it  legal  force,  1792. 
Processioner — Officer  in  Kentucky,  possibly  in  other 

states,  who  determines  and  marks  out  bounds  of 

lands,  B. 
Prohibition — ^Legal  prohibition  of  liquor-selling,  B. 
Prospect,  noun — Possible  customer. 
Prospect,  verb — Search  for  precious  metal  in  the  soil, 

1845. 
PuDGiCKY — Fussy,  B. 
Pueblo — ^Native  village  in  far  West,  B. 
Pull — Advantage,  influence,  1889. 
PuLLFOOT — Walk  fast  or  run,  B. 
Pulling-Bone — Breast-bone  of  fowl,  B. 
Pulque — Intoxicating  liquor  made  by  Mexicans, 

1693. 
Puma — Cougar,  B. 
Puncheon — Split  log  with  face  a  little  smoothed, 

1790. 
PuNG — One  horse  sleigh  or  wagon,  1798. 
Pussy  (corruption  of  pursy,  u  sounded  as  in  pus) — 

Corpulent,  C. 
Put — Privilege  of  selling  to  a  certain  person  before  a 

specified  date  a  certain  stock  at  a  certain  price, 

B. 
Put  Up  (money) — Deposit,  1884  (but  I  think  older). 
Put  Up — Incite,  suggest,  1824. 


SOME      REAL     AMERICANISMS  IQl 

Q 

QuACKGRASS — Agropyrum  repens,  T. 

Quadroon — Offspring  of  white  person  and  mulatto, 
B. 

QuAHAUG — Kind  of  clam,  B. 

Qualify — Take  oath  on  assuming  office,  1857. 

Quarter  (of  a  dollar),  B. 

Quarterage — "Entertainment  or  allowance,"  B. 

Quid — Extinct  political  party,  1805. 

QuiDDLiNG — Unsteady,  uncertain,  B. 

QuiRL — Tangle,  curl,  twist,  1787. 

Quirt — Riding  whip,  1851. 

Quite  a  Few — See  preceding  chapter,  "Exotic  Amer- 
icanisms." 

R 

Race — Race  with,  chase  after,  1858. 

Rack  (for  wreck?),  in  "rack  and  ruin,"  B. 

Rackabones — Emaciated  man  or  beast,  B. 

Raft — Great  quantity  or  number,  1718. 

Rag  (time)  in  music — Syncopated. 

Raise,  to  Make — To  find  what  one  sought,  B. 

Rake  Down — "Taking  down,  scolding,"  B. 

Rake-off — Share  in  profits,  dishonestly  taken,  1909 
(but  older). 

Rambunctious — Quarrelsome,  1854. 

Ranch — First  a  herdsman's  hut,  then  a  live-stock  es- 
tablishment, now  any  kind  of  farm,  1808. 


292  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Range — A  line  of  public  land  subdivisions  (special 
use  of  an  old  word),  1851. 

Rangy  (animal) — Large,  loosely  built,  1891. 

Rank — Take  precedence  of,  1860. 

Rantankerous — Quarrelsome,  F. 

Rapids — Swift  descent  of  river,  P. 

Rareripe — Name  of  a  variety  of  fruit  or  other  crop, 
or  qualifying  adjective,  various  indefinite  mean- 
ings, 1794. 

Rating — Standing  in  reports  of  mercantile  agency, 
F. 

Ratoons — 1.  Heart  leaves  of  tobacco,  1840.  2. 
Sugarcanes  of  second  and  third  year,  B. 

Rattler — Rattlesnake,  1827. 

Rattlesnake,  1630. 

Raw^hide — Whip,  1821. 

Reata — ^Lariat,  lasso,  B. 

Reboso — Mexican  shawl,  B. 

Red— Cent,  1848. 

Red  Dog  Money — Ill-secured  bank  bills,  obsolete, 
1837. 

Redeem  (note  or  bond) — Pay,  B. 

Red  Root — Kind  of  shrub,  B. 

Regret — Note  declining  invitation,  B. 

Reinsure,  B. 

Remonetize — ^Make  something  legal  tender  again 
after  it  has  ceased  to  be  such,  having  been  de- 
monetized, 1877. 

Removability,  P. 


SOME      REAL     AMERICANISMS  293 

Repeater — ^Man  voting  more  than  once,  B. 

Reportorial  (should  be  reporterial) ,  B. 

Reserve,  Reservation — Land  set  aside  for  specific 
purpose,  1830. 

Responsible,  referring  to  an  undertaking  that  has 
succeeded,  "the  new  pastor  is  chiefly  responsible 
for  the  growth  of  the  church" — entitled  to  credit 
for.  Seems  to  be  an  Americanism,  and  one  of 
which  we  may  well  be  ashamed. 

Restitutionists — Branch  of  Universalist  church,  B. 

Retirement — Withdrawing  of  resolution  or  the  like, 
B. 

Retortive — Containing  retort,  P.     (Apparently  a 
nonce  word.) 

Revamp — Patch  up,  1859. 

Revelator — Revealer,  1801. 

Revocal — Revocation,  1862. 

Ride — Convey,  carry,  1687. 

Riding  Rock — Rock  at  ford,  indicating  depth  of  wa- 
ter, B. 

RiDiNGW^AY — Ford,  1780. 

Ripple — Rocky  obstruction  in  stream,  1796. 

Rig — Horse  and  wagon,  1883  (but,  I  think,  much 
older). 

Right  Along — Continuously,  B. 

Right  Aw^ay — Immediately,  1818. 

Right  Here — At  this  instant,  B. 

Right  Off — Immediately,  B. 

Right  Smart — A  lot,  large  quantity,  1856. 


294  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Right  Straight — Immediately,  B. 

Ring — Clique,  combination,  1869. 

Ringer — Horse  dishonestly  entered  out  of  his  class, 
C. 

RiNGTAiLED  RoARER — Term  of  indefinite  meaning, 
1830. 

Rip — Rake,  libertine,  B. 

Rip  Out  (oath) — Utter  vehemently,  1856. 

Ripper — "Tearer,  driver,"  B. 

Riprap — Rough  stonework  in  water,  1848. 

Ripsnorter — Uproarious,  energetic  person,  B. 

Rising  (a  certain  age  or  amount) — Over,  1775. 
Sometimes  persons  say  "a  thousand  and  the 
rise"  instead  of  "rising  (i.  e.,  more  than)  a  thou- 
sand." 

Rising  Ground — Hills. 

Risky — Dangerous,  B. 

Roach — Cockroach,  B. 

Roach — Trim  men's  hair  or  horses'  manes,  1781. 

Road  Agent — Highway  robber,  1866. 

Robe — Dressed  skin  of  bison,  1841. 

Robin — Flannel  undershirt,  B. 

Rock — A  stone,  even  if  small  enough  to  be  thrown, 
1712. 

Rocks — Money,  B. 

RocKAWAY — Light  carriage,  1846. 

Rocker — 1.  Apparatus  for  separating  gold  dust  from 
earth,  B.     2.  Rocking  chair,  1855. 


SOME      REAL     AMERICANISMS         295 

Rolling  (country  or  land) — Gently  undulating, 

1818. 
Room— To  lodge,  1828. 
Roorback — Sensational  fabrication,  1844. 
Rooter — Noisy  partisan,  1898. 
Rope  In — To  sweep  together,  to  decoy,  B. 
RoRAM — Kind  of  cloth,  1796. 
Rose  Fever — Summer  catarrh,  1851. 
Rough — Unfair  to,  hard  on,  B. 
RouGH-AND-TuMBLE  (fight) — Savage,  without  rules, 

1832. 
RouGHHOUSE — Disturbance,  row,  1895. 
Roughness — Coarse  fodder,  B. 
RouGHSCUFF — Rabble,  1859. 
Round  One,  To  Get — To  flatter,  cajole,  1840. 
Rounder — Dissipated  person,  F. 
Roustabout — Wharf  laborer,  deck-hand,  1868. 
Rowdy— Ruffian,  1819. 

Rubber,  Rubberneck — Turn  to  look  at  something. 
Rubbers — Caoutchouc  overshoes,  1855.     (I  think 

older.) 
Rugged — Robust,  P. 

RuLLiCHiES — Preparation  of  meat,  1832. 
RuMBUD — Swelling  on  face,  due  to  liquor,  B. 
RuMHOLE,  RuMMiLL — Groggcry,  1863. 
Run — 1.  To  make  a  butt  of,  B.     2.  To  cause  to  run, 

as  church  or  factory,  1789. 
Run  Into  the  Ground — Overdo,  1826. 


296  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Runabout — Small  vehicle  or  boat,  C. 

Runner  (of  sleigh),  1765. 

Runner — Solicitor  for  hotel,  railroad  or  steamboat, 
1824. 

Runway — Customary  track  of  an  animal,  1839. 

Rush — 1.  Perfect  recitation,  1860.  2.  Spirit,  en- 
ergy, speed,  as  to  do  a  thing  "with  a  rush,"  B. 

Rush  the  Growler — Bring  home  beer  in  pail  or 
pitcher,  F. 

Rust — Discoloration  of  fish  kept  too  long,  B. 

Rustle — Grapple  with  difficulties,  1872. 

Rye  and  Indian  (pronounced  ryeninjun) — Bread 
made  of  rye  flour  and  Indian  meal. 


S ABB AD AY — Sunday,  1833. 

Saddy — Curtsy,  B. 

Sage  Brush — Artemisia  ludoviciana,  B. 

Sakes,  Sakes  Alive — Ejaculation  of  surprise,  1846. 

Salamander — Name  of  various  animals,  1859. 

Salamander  (safe) — Fireproof,  B. 

Saleratus — Bicarbonate  of  potash  or  soda,  B. 

Saloon — Barroom. 

Salt  Lick — P. 

Sam — ^Member  of  Knownothing  party,  1855. 

Sambo — Negro,  person  of  mixed  blood,  1811. 

Sam  Hill— The  devil,  1839. 

Samp — Coarse  hominy,  1643. 


SOME      REAL     AMERICANISMS  297 

Sample  Room — Barroom,  B. 

Sand— Pluck,  1883. 

Sang — Ginseng,  B. 

Sapsago — Green  Swiss  cheese,  B. 

Sapsucker — Woodpecker,  B. 

Saratoga  (trunk),  1869. 

Sault  (pronounced  soo) — Rapid  in  river,  B. 

Savagerous — Ferocious,  1832. 

Savanna — Open  plain  formerly  under  water,  1705. 

Save— To  kill,  1833. 

Sawbuck,  Sawhorse — Frame  holding  log  for  saw- 
ing. 

Sawyer — Tree  uprooted  by  river  and  caught  in 
stream,  1801. 

Say — Unmeaning  and  silly  prefix  to  sentence,  B. 

Scab — Scurrilous  term  for  workman  not  member  of 
trade  union,  1798. 

Scalawag — Scapegrace,  1848. 

Scalp — To  unscalp  (like  to  dust,  meaning  to  undust). 

Scalper — Speculator  in  tickets  or  stocks,  B. 

Scare  Up — Find,  B. 

Scary — Timorous  or  causing  fear,  B. 

Scat — Be  off,  get  out. 

Schooner — ^Large  beer  glass,  B. 

Scoop — Kind  of  bonnet,  1800. 

Scoop — Important  news  secured  exclusively  by  a  sin- 
gle journal,  1876. 

Scorch — To  drive  bicycle  very  fast. 

Scrap — Quarrel,  T. 


298  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Scrapple — A  food,  of  various  compositions,  B. 

Scratch — Lucky  stroke  at  billiards,  B. 

Scratch  Gravel — Be  off,  get  out,  B. 

Scrub  (oak) — Dwarfish,  B. 

Scrumptious — Nice,  fine,  excellent,  B. 

ScuEE — ^Light  shoe  or  slipper. 

Sculp,  Sculpin,  Scup — Kind  of  fish. 

Scup— Swing,  1849. 

Scut — Refuse  beer. 

Scutum,  Aquascutum — Waterproof  cloak,  1876. 

Seal  (wife),  among  Mormons — Marry  for  eternity 
but  not  for  this  life,  B. 

Season — Time  of  wet  w^eather,  B. 

Second — Affix  to  a  person's  name,  signifying  that  he 
is  younger  than  another  person  of  same  name, 
but  is  not  his  son,  thus  distinguishing  John  Doe, 
2d,  from  John  Doe,  Jr.,  the  latter  being  the  son 
of  the  original  John  Doe,  the  former  perhaps  a 
nephew,  perhaps  not  nearly  related. 

Section — Part  of  the  country,  B. 

Sectional — Reverse  of  national,  1836. 

Selectman — Magistrate,  1685. 

Sense,  verb — Comprehend,  1849. 

Serape — Mexican  blanket,  1887. 

Settlement — Pastor's  homestead,  B. 

Seven  Up — Card  game,  1856. 

Shack — Rough  cabin. 

Shackly — Rickety,  B. 

Shadbelly  (coat) — Variety  of  cutaway,  1842. 


SOME      REAL     AMERICANISMS  299 

Shade  (a  price) — Reduce  slightly,  B. 

Shady,  Keep — Lie  perdu,  B. 

Shagbark — Kind  of  hickory,  1792. 

Shakedown — Boisterous  dance,  B. 

Shakes — Rough  shingles,  1845. 

Shanghai — Tall  dandy,  B. 

Shanghai  (sailor) — Get  drunk,  and  send  to  sea  with- 
out his  knowledge. 

Shanty — Rude  hut,  1820. 

Sharpey — Kind  of  boat,  B. 

Shay — Mistake  for  chaise,  supposed  to  be  plural, 
1717. 

Shebang — House,  shop,  establishment,  1863. 

Shecoonery — Chicanery,  1845. 

Sheepshead — Kind  of  fish,  B. 

Sheepskin — Diploma,  1804. 

Shell — Light  row-boat,  B. 

Shenanigan — Foolery,  nonsense,  tricks,  B. 

Shillagalee — Low  fellow,  scalawag,  B. 

Shilling — Eighth  part  of  a  dollar,  B. 

Shin,  Shin  Round — To  run  here  and  there,  B. 

Shine,  in  phrase  to  take  a  shine — A  fancy  or  liking, 
B. 

Shine,  to  have — To  have  one's  shoes  blacked,  B. 

Shines — Capers,  tricks,  1830. 

Shingle — Sign  board,  1848. 

Shingle — To  cut  hair  close,  B. 

Shingle-Weaver — ^Maker  of  shingles,  B. 

Shinplaster — Paper  money,  1824. 


300  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Shooter — Pistol.     Six  shooter,  revolver  with  six 

barrels. 
Shooting  Iron — Gun  or  pistol,  1833. 
Short,  to  sell — To  sell  something  that  one  has  not  yet 

bought,  B. 
Shortage — Deficiency,  1868. 
Should  improperly  substituted  for  the  infinitive,  as 

"I  want  you  should  go,"  1833. 
Shove,  said  of  ice — To  move  and  pile  up,  B. 
Shut  Pan — Close  the  mouth,  1799. 
Shy  or  Shy  Of — Lacking,  short,  deficient  in;  "We 

are  shy  two  men  this  morning" — We  miss  two 

men  that  were  expected. 
Shyster — Rascally  lawyer  or  other  cheat,  1856. 
Side  Lines — Secondary  roads,  B. 
Sidestep — Evade  or  avoid,  1901. 
Sidev\^heeler — Pacing  horse. 
Siding — Boards  for  side  of  house,  B. 
Sierra — Mountain  range,  B. 
Sign — Trace  of  recent  presence  of  men  or  animals, 

1855. 
Sign  (a  person) — Get  signature  to  contract;  engage; 

hire,  1889. 
Sign  Off — Relinquish  a  claim  or  a  right,  B. 
Sink  or  Sink-Hole — Depression  where  water  disap- 
pears, 1816. 
Size  Up — Form  judgment  of,  1890. 
Skate — ^Worn  out  horse,  C. 
Skeezicks — Contemptible  fellow,  1850. 


SOME      REAL     AMERICANISMS  3OI 

Skin — Cheat,  1837. 

Skullduggery — Cunning,  trickery,  B. 

Skunk — To  defeat  completely,  1848. 

Skyugle — Verb  of  so  many  meanings  that  it  means 

nothing  except  as  the  context  may  explain  it, 

1864  or  a  little  earlier. 
Slabsided — Having  straight  sides,  uncouth,  1817. 
Slapjack — Pancake,  B. 
Slashes — ^Marshes,  1819, 
Slate — ^List  of  nominees,  1877. 
Slaver — Man  or  vessel  engaged  in  the  slave  trade, 

B. 
Slazy  or  Sleazy — Worn  thin,  1820. 
Sleep — Furnish  sleeping  accommodations,  B. 
Sleeping  Car,  B. 

Sleigh — Vehicle  on  runners,  for  use  on  snow,  P. 
Sleighing — State  of  snowy  road  that  permits  use  of 

sleighs,  B. 
Sleuth — Detective. 
Slev^  or  Slue — Slough,  B. 
Slimsy — Flimsy,  frail,  B. 
Sling — Alcoholic  drink,  1788. 
Slip — Pew,  B. 
Slip — Pay  or  give  (money). 
Slip-Noose — Slip-knot. 
Slope — Run  away,  elope,  escape,  B. 
Slump — Dish  of  apples  and  bread,  B. 
Slungshot — ^Weapon  consisting  of  two  metal  balls 

at  ends  of  rope,  1842. 


302  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Smart  Chance — Good  opportunity,  large  quantity, 

B. 
Smile — Drink,  1850. 
Snake  (fence) — Zigzag,  B. 
Snake  Head — Piece  of  flat  rail  thrown  up  by  a  car 

wheel,  B. 
Snake  In,  Snake  Out — Drag,  1848. 
Snap  (generally  in  phrase  "cold  snap") — Period  of 

weather,  B. 
Snap — Quick,  off-hand,  without  fair  consideration, 

1841. 
Snap,  Soft — Sinecure,  1845. 
Sneak  Thief,  F. 
Snifter — Drink,  1848. 
Snoop — To  pilfer,  1834. 
Snoozer — Hotel  thief,  B. 
Snore — String  for  spinning  top,  B. 
Snorter — Riotous  fellow,  B. 
Snub  Up — To  attach  boat  to  post,  1845. 
Snug— Purloin,  1795. 
Soak — To  pawn  articles ;  to  punish  a  man. 
Soaker — Drunkard,  B. 

Soap  Lock — Lock  of  hair  brushed  smooth,  1838. 
SocDOLAGER — Coup  de  grace,  1837. 
Social  or  Sociable — Gathering  of  people  for  social 

purposes,  B. 
Sociable — Kind  of  sofa,  B. 
Soda — Soda  water,  B. 
SoDDY — Sod  hut,  1913. 


SOME      REAL     AMERICANISMS         303 

Soft  (money) — Paper,  B. 

Soft  Sawder — Flattery,  B. 

Soft  Snap  or  Soft  Thing — Piece  of  luck,  1845. 

Soldier — To  shirk. 

Solid  Color — All  of  the  same  color. 

Sots — Yeast,  B. 

Sou  Marquee — Worthless  coin,  B. 

Sour  on  a  thing — Have  enough  of  it,  1862. 

Spang — Full,  completely,  1843. 

Spark — To  court,  B. 

Spat— Quarrel,  1804. 

Speakeasy — Grogshop,  T. 

Speedway — Road  where  fast  driving  is  allowed,  C. 

Spellbinder — Political  speaker,  1888. 

Spelling  Bee — Public  contest  in  spelling,  B. 

Spider — Three-legged  frying  pan,  B. 

Spike  Team — Three  animals  harnessed  together,  one 
leading  the  pair,  1845. 

Spit-Ball — Ball  made  of  chewed  paper,  B. 

Spit-Curl — Lock  of  hair  curled  on  the  temple,  1858. 

Spittoon — Cuspidore,  1840.     (But  see  p.  197.) 

Split — Go  fast,  B. 

Split  Ticket — One  containing  the  names  of  candi- 
dates from  two  or  more  parties,  as  distinguished 
from  a  "straight  ticket,"  which  names  candidates 
all  of  the  same  party. 

Spondoolics — Money,  1857. 

Spoops — Silly  fellow,  B. 

Sports — Gamblers,  B. 


304  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Sposh — Mixture  of  snow  and  water,  B. 

Spotter — Detective,  B. 

Spread  One's  Self — Exert  one's  self  ostentatiously, 
B. 

Springer — Cow  about  to  calve,  C. 

Sprung — Intoxicated,  1856. 

Square — Distance  between  streets,  1784. 

Square  Room — Best  apartment,  B. 

Squeezer — Mark  on  corner  of  playing  card,  to  indi- 
cate value,  F. 

Squirt — Presumptuous  fellow,  1872. 

Squush — Crush,  1846. 

Staging — Scaffolding,  P. 

Stake  Out — Picket  an  animal,  B. 

Stalwart — Wing  of  Republican  party,  1880. 

Stampede — Wild  rush,  1846. 

Stamping  Ground — Place  of  resort,  1839. 

Stamps — Money,  1861. 

Stand  Off  (transitive) — Hold  at  a  distance,  C. 

Stand  Pat — Term  in  game  of  poker,  T. 

Standee — Standing  place,  B. 

Stated  Supply — Acting  pastor,  B. 

Stave — Press  forward,  1825. 

Stayer — Active  person,  1869. 

Staving — Great,  strong,  B. 

Steep — Great;  extravagant,  1856. 

Stemw^inder — Keyless  watch,  B. 

Stick — Impose  upon,  B. 

Stiff — Corpse,  1871. 


SOME      REAL     AMERICANISMS         305 

Stiff  (said  of  a  drink) — Strong. 

Still  Hunting — Stalking  game  silently,  B. 

Stingaree — A  fish,  Cephaloptera  vampyrus,  1632. 

Stock  Watering — Issuing  stock  dishonestly,  B. 

Stogie — Coarse  boot;  cheap  cigar,  1847. 

Stool,  Stool  Pigeon — Decoy,  B. 

Storekeeper — Shopkeeper,  1817. 

Stovepipe  Hat — Tall  silk  hat,  1855. 

Straddle — Stockbroker's  term,  B. 

Straddlebug — A  beetle,  1853. 

Straight — Pure,  complete,  unaltered,  1854. 

Stram — To  flourish  the  legs,  C. 

Strapped — Out  of  funds,  1857. 

Straw,  as  in  straw  bail,  straw  bid — Worthless,  B. 

Streak  It — Run,  1834. 

Streaked,  Streaky — Alarmed,  1833. 

Street  Yarn — Idle  gossip,  1855. 

Strike — 1.  Term  in  game  of  ninepins.     2.  Discov- 
ery or  achievement. 

Stripe — Pattern,  sort,  kind,  1853. 

Spripper — Cow  nearly  dry,  F. 

Strowd — Breech  cloth,  1752. 

Stub  Toe,  B. 

Stuck  On — Fond  of,  recent  slang. 

Stud — Stallion,  1833. 

Stump — To  challenge,  puzzle,  confound,  1800. 

Stumpage,  1846. 

Stumper — 1.  Puzzler,  1807.     2.  Stump  orator, 
1863. 


306  american    english 

Stump  Speaker,  1835. 

Suability — Liability  to  be  sued,  1798. 

Sucker — 1.  Dupe,  1857.     2.  Native  of  Illinois, 
1833. 

Suck  In — Cheat,  delude,  B. 

Suit  of  Hair,  1854. 

Suit  Case — Special  kind  of  travelling  bag,  originally 
called  "dress  suit  case,"  recent.  A  slovenly  con- 
traction, though  not  as  bad  as  calling  the  same 
thing  a  "case," 

Sump — Cesspool,  1904. 

Sunday,  sometimes  misspelled  "sundae"-^Ice  cream 
with  syrup  over  it.  Name  said  to  have  been  first 
used,  about  1897,  at  Red  Cross  Pharmacy,  State 
Street,  Ithaca,  N.  Y,,  directly  opposite  to  bar- 
room of  Ithaca  Hotel,  which  was  closed  on  Sun- 
day, suggesting  to  the  pharmacy  people  to  offer 
a  distinctively  Sunday  drink. 

Sun  Up — Sunrise,  1843. 

Sustain  a  fatal  wound.     Recent  newspaper  English. 

Swag — Depression  in  the  earth,  F. 

Swamping — Huge,  B. 

Swan — Swear,  B. 

Swankey — A  beverage,  1873. 

Swear  In — Administer  oath  to  newly  chosen  official, 
B. 

Swear  Off — Abjure  a  habit,  B, 

Sweeny — Atrophy  of  muscles,  1855. 

SwiTCHEL — A  beverage,  1801. 


SOME      REAL     AMERICANISMS         307 


Tab,  to  Keep— To  tally,  1888. 

Tablespread — Table  cloth,  C. 

Tacky — Small  or  poor  horse,  1835. 

Tads — People,  generally  children,  B. 

Tailor — Kind  of  fish,  B. 

Take  (printer's) — Piece  of  copy  to  be  set,  C. 

Take  (said  of  body  of  water) — Freeze. 

Take  Back  Track — Recede,  back  down,  B. 

Take  Rag  Orr — Surpass,  B. 

Take  Shine  Off — Excel  completely,  B. 

Take  the  Stump — Start  electioneering  by  oratory, 

B. 
Take  Up  (animals) — Prepare  them  for  a  journey,  B. 
Take  Up  (at  an  inn) — Stop,  B. 
Take  Water — Disappear;  give  up  an  argument, 

1854. 
Talking  Iron — Gun  or  pistol,  B. 
Talk  Turkey — Say  pleasant  things,  B. 
Tallow  Dip — Candle  not  moulded,  B. 
Tamarack — Kind  of  tree,  B. 
Tanglefoot — Intoxicating  liquor,   1871.     (I  think 

earlier.) 
Tangleleg — Kind  of  shrub,  B. 
Taps — ^Military  curfew,  F. 
Tarheel — ^North  Carolinian,  1864. 
Tattler — Kind  of  bird,  B. 
Taunton  Turkeys — Herring,  B. 


306  american    english 

Stump  Speaker,  1835. 

Suability — Liability  to  be  sued,  1798. 

Sucker — 1.  Dupe,  1857.     2.  Native  of  Illinois, 
1833. 

Suck  In — Cheat,  delude,  B. 

Suit  of  Hair,  1854. 

Suit  Case — Special  kind  of  travelling  bag,  originally 
called  "dress  suit  case,"  recent.  A  slovenly  con- 
traction, though  not  as  bad  as  calling  the  same 
thing  a  "case." 

Sump — Cesspool,  1904. 

Sunday,  sometimes  misspelled  "sundae"--Ice  cream 
with  syrup  over  it.  Name  said  to  have  been  first 
used,  about  1897,  at  Red  Cross  Pharmacy,  State 
Street,  Ithaca,  N.  Y.,  directly  opposite  to  bar- 
room of  Ithaca  Hotel,  which  was  closed  on  Sun-- 
day,  suggesting  to  the  pharmacy  people  to  offer 
a  distinctively  Sunday  drink. 

Sun  Up — Sunrise,  1843. 

Sustain  a  fatal  wound.     Recent  newspaper  English. 

Swag — Depression  in  the  earth,  F. 

Swamping — Huge,  B. 

Swan — Swear,  B. 

SwANKEY — A  beverage,  1873. 

Swear  In — Administer  oath  to  newly  chosen  official, 
B. 

Swear  Off — Abjure  a  habit,  B. 

Sweeny — Atrophy  of  muscles,  1855. 

SwiTCHEL — A  beverage,  1801. 


SOME      REAL     AMERICANISMS         307 


Tab,  to  Keep— To  tally,  1888. 

Tablespread — Table  cloth,  C. 

Tacky — Small  or  poor  horse,  1835. 

Tads — People,  generally  children,  B. 

Tailor — Kind  of  fish,  B. 

Take  (printer's) — Piece  of  copy  to  be  set,  C. 

Take  (said  of  body  of  water) — Freeze. 

Take  Back  Track — Recede,  back  down,  B. 

Take  Rag  Orr — Surpass,  B. 

Take  Shine  Off — Excel  completely,  B. 

Take  the  Stump — Start  electioneering  by  oratory, 

B. 
Take  Up  (animals) — Prepare  them  for  a  journey,  B. 
Take  Up  (at  an  inn) — Stop,  B. 
Take  Water — Disappear;  give  up  an  argument, 

1854. 
Talking  Iron — Gun  or  pistol,  B. 
Talk  Turkey — Say  pleasant  things,  B. 
Tallow  Dip — Candle  not  moulded,  B. 
Tamarack — Kind  of  tree,  B. 
Tanglefoot — Intoxicating  liquor,   1871.     (I  think 

earlier.) 
Tangleleg — Kind  of  shrub,  B. 
Taps — ^Military  curfew,  F. 
Tarheel — ^North  Carolinian,  1864. 
Tattler — Kind  of  bird,  B. 
Taunton  Turkeys — Herring,  B. 


310  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Tough  It  Out — Bear  it  heroically,  1830. 

Trade — Exchange,  1806. 

Trailer — Street  car  drawn  by  another,  1890. 

Transpire  erroneously  used  for  occur,  1802. 

Trap  Fishing,  B. 

Tree — To  drive  into  a  tree,  1818. 

Treenail — ^Large  wooden  peg,  1800. 

Trick — A  turn  at  working. 

Trot — Translation,  1891.     (I  think  much  older.) 

Truck — Vegetables  for  market,  1784. 

Truck — Hook  and  ladder  apparatus  for  fire  fighting. 

Trust — ^Large  corporation. 

Tuckered  Out — Exhausted,  1853. 

Tuck  On — To  add  something  unreasonably,  B. 

Tumble — Hay  cock,  B. 

TuMBLEBUG — Dung  beetle,  1806. 

Turnpike — Turnpike  road,  P. 

Tuxedo  Coat — Dinner  jacket. 

Type — Use  a  typewriter. 

Typo — Compositor,  1816. 

U 

Ultraism — Extreme  opinions,  1850. 

Uncle — Elderly  colored  man ;  one's  self,  as  in  phrase, 

"You  can't  fool  your  uncle,"  1835. 
Under  the  Weather — 111,  1850. 
Undercoat — Petticoat,  B. 
Underhew — To  cut  timber  dishonestly,  F. 


SOME      REAL     AMERICANISMS  3II 

Underpinners — Legs,  B. 

Unfellowshipped — Not  recognized,  1861. 

Unseated  (land) — Unoccupied,  1799. 

Up  To — Incumbent  on,  late  19th  century. 

Up  to  Snuff — Well  informed,  B. 

Upper  Crust,  Upper  Ten — Aristocracy,  B. 

Upright — Leg,  B. 

Usable — That  can  be  used,  F. 

Used  Up — Exhausted,  1833. 

Uxoricide — ^Murder  or  murderer  of  wife,  F. 

V 

Valedictory,  Valedictorian  at  college  commence- 
ment, B. 

Vamose — Decamp,  1848. 

Variate — Vary,  P. 

Various,  noun — 'T  talked  with  various  of  them,"  B. 

Vegetarian — Abjurer  of  animal  food,  B. 

Vigilance  Committee — Voluntary  association  to 
preserve  order,  B. 

Vim — Energy,  1850. 

Violative — In  violation,  1861. 

Visit  With — Chat  with. 

Vum— Vow,  1785. 


W 


Waffle — Kind  of  cake,  1750. 
Wagged  Out — Tired,  B. 


312  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Wmst — Bodice,  C. 

Walking  Papers,  Walking  Ticket — ^Notice  to  quit, 

1843. 
Walk  Into — To  attack,  B. 
Walk  Over — Easy  Victory,  B. 
Wall  Paper — Paper  hangings,  B. 
Wallow — Depression  in  earth,  looking  like  animals' 

work,  C. 
Wamblecropped,  Womblecropped — Humiliated, 

1798. 
Wash-out — Effect  of  a  flood,  F. 
Watergap — Passage  of  stream  between  hills,  C. 
Watershed — High  land  from  which  streams  flow 

both  ways,  B. 
Waterwitch — Person    w^ho    finds    underground    or 

hidden  streams  by  aid  of  a  bent  wand,  B. 
Waumus — Jacket,  1805. 
Wax— To  defeat,  1876. 
Waybill — Record  of  lading,  1821. 
Way  Passenger,  Station  or  Train,  1799. 
Wearables — Clothes,  B. 

Wed  for  Wedded — Recent  newspaper  revival  of  obso- 
lete form. 
Well  Come  Up  With — Served  just  right,  paid  in 

his  own  coin. 
Wesand — Throat,  F. 
Wet — Permitting  or  favoring  the  sale  of  intoxicants, 

late  19th  century. 
Whaler — Big,  strapping  fellow,  B. 


SOME      REAL     AMERICANISMS  313 

Whaling — Beating,  1847. 

Whang — Sinew  of  deer,  1846. 

Whapperjaw — Protruding  jaw,  B. 

Whiffet — Insignificant  creature,  F. 

Whiffletree — Whippletree,  B. 

Whip — Overcome,  defeat,  1815. 

Whippersnapper — Pretentious  person. 

Whippoorwill — Kind  of  bird,  1781. 

Whipstock — Whip  socket,  C. 

Whiskey  Skin — Kind  of  drink,  B. 

Whitewash  (person  or  action) — Apply  a  pretext  to 

conceal  the  evil. 
Whole  Souled — Noble  minded,  1834. 
Wide  Open — Said  of  town  where  liquor  is  freely  sold, 

late  19th  century. 
Wildcat   (investments) — Highly  speculative,  19th 

century. 
Windfall — Track  of  tornado  in  forest;  fruit  blown 

off  by  wind;  unexpected  good  luck,  1840. 
Winery — Place  where  wine  is  made,  F. 
Wire — Electric  telegraph. 
Wire  Edge  (of  a  cutting  tool),  B. 
Wire  Pullers — Political  plotters,  1826. 
Wishbone — Breast  bone  of  fowl,  B. 
Wolverines — People  of  Michigan,  1835. 
Woodchuck — Ground  hog,  Arctomyx  monax,  1768. 
WooDRiCK — Pile  of  wood,  B. 
Work-a-day  Clothing. 
Worm  Fence — Fence  built  zigzag,  1817. 


314  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

WoRRiMENT — Anxiety,  B. 

Wrapper — Loose  dress,  undershirt,  B. 

Wrathy — Angry,  1834. 


Yankee  Notions — Small  wares,  1819. 
Yard — Garden  near  house,  C. 
Yearling — One  year  old,  C. 
Yegg,  Yeggman — Thief,  1903. 
Yellow — Disreputable,  19th  century. 
York  Shilling — Twelve  and  a  half  cents. 


Zee — Name  of  the  last  letter  of  the  alphabet,  1797. 
ZiT — Sound  of  projectile  striking  water,  F. 


CHAPTER  FIVE 

MISUNDERSTOOD  AND  IMAGINARY 
AMERICANISMS 

"Many  British  words  are  inadmissible  in  the  United  States, 
where  the  inhabitants  have  so  far  progressed  with  their  self- 
inflicted  task  of  creating  an  American  language  that  much  of 
their  conversation  is,  if  they  choose,  incomprehensible  to  Eng- 
lish people." — London  Court  Journal,  Aug.  20,  1892. 

If  the  English  court  gets  from  British  authorities 
its  ideas  of  the  language  that  we  are  supposed  to  be 
creating  in  this  country,  it  is  no  wonder  that  an  editor 
who  is  presumably  to  be  regarded  as  in  some  sense 
the  mouthpiece  of  that  distinguished  body  of  ladies 
and  gentlemen  holds  the  views  above  expressed;  for 
many  of  the  terms  that  are  attributed  to  us  in  Great 
Britain  are  incomprehensible  in  this  country  as  well 
as  abroad,  and  some  real  Americanisms  are  so  mis- 
understood, and  consequently  so  misused,  when  our 
transatlantic  cousins  honor  them  w^ith  their  quasi- 
approval  by  adopting  them,  that  they  come  to  need  in- 
terpretation to  us  as  much  as  to  any  Englishman. 

Taking  first  a  case  of  straight  misunderstanding, 
there  is  a  well-nigh  universal  British  practice  of  ap- 
plying our  word  Yankee  to  every  American,  the  Missis- 

315 


3l6  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

sippian  as  well  as  the  Vermonter;  I  have  even  seen 
the  Union  Pacific  stock  mentioned  among  "Yankee 
rails"  in  London  financial  papers,  in  disregard  (or 
ignorance)  of  the  fact  that  not  one  of  the  rails  of  that 
line  is  within  a  thousand  miles  of  Yankee-land.  To 
call  a  Scotch  Highlander  a  cockney  would  be  a  very 
trifling  error  in  comparison,  and  what  would  the  edi- 
tor of  the  Court  Journal  think  of  an  American  who 
knew  no  better  than  to  do  that? 

Sometimes  one  of  our  expressions  is  adopted  in 
England  in  an  abbreviated  form  that  destroys  its 
sense;  and  it  must  be  admitted  that  in  at  least  one 
case  the  abbreviated  form  is  often  imitated  from  Brit- 
ish papers  by  careless  speakers  and  writers  in  this 
country,  making  the  term  perhaps  not  exactly  unin- 
telligible but  certainly  in  need  of  explanation.  I  re- 
fer to  the  adjective  record-breaking,  which  is  perfectly 
regular  in  form,  self-explanatory,  and  convenient. 
Every  important  achievement,  be  it  in  raising  a  crop, 
in  making  time  on  a  railroad,  in  reaching  a  great 
height  with  an  aeroplane,  is  on  record  somewhere ;  and 
when  something  better  is  done  in  the  same  line,  the 
record  may  well  be  said  to  have  been  broken.  But 
the  English  first,  and  careless  Americans  later,  have 
taken  to  calling  the  latter  accomplishment  a  "record" 
one,  as  a  "record"  (instead  of  a  record-breaking) 
crop  of  wheat,  or  a  "record"  (instead  of  a  record- 
breaking)  run  of  a  train — a  change  that  makes  the 
adjective  meaningless  and  silly. 


.MISUNDERSTOOD     AMERICANISMS       317 

Sometimes  again  our  British  cousins  fancy  well 
enough  to  adopt  it  an  American  expression  that  does 
not  explain  itself,  and  put  it  into  use  without  taking 
the  trouble  to  ascertain  what  it  means.  An  instance 
is  our  right  away,  which  of  course  means  immediately 
and  has  never  meant  anything  else  in  the  country  of 
its  invention.  What  the  English  mean  by  the  term 
I  have  never  been  able  to  ascertain,  though  I  have 
asked  English  friends  more  than  once,  when  I  have 
happened  to  hear  them  use  it  in  a  sense  that  was  per- 
fectly unintelligible  to  me.  Sometimes  it  seems  to  in- 
dicate a  considerable  distance,  as  "right  away  down 
in  the  southwest  of  England,"  which  expression  de- 
scribes, I  am  told,  a  position  near  Land's  End,  or  at 
least  somewhere  in  Cornwall;  and  that  may  be  Mr. 
H.  G.  Wells'  idea  in  writing  ("Wife  of  Sir  Isaac  Har- 
man,"  chap.  5),  "It  wasn't  till  we'd  gone  right  away 
to  Haggerston  that  they  altered  things."  Sometimes 
it  seems  to  have  no  meaning  at  all;  "it's  a  way  of 
speaking,  you  know,"  an  Englishman  said  to  me  once, 
when  I  asked  him  to  explain ;  and  Mr.  Arnold  Bennett 
pronounces  it  "one  of  those  quite  meaningless  phrases 
which  adorn  the  languages  of  all  nations."  If  the 
Court  Journal  writer  judges  of  the  language  we  Amer- 
icans are  creating  by  the  undoubted  Americanism 
right  away  as  he  hears  it  in  England,  he  may  well 
set  it  down  as  an  unintelligible  jargon. 

Sometimes  again  an  American  term  is  partly  un- 
derstood in  Great  Britain,  but  with  some  misappre- 


3l8  AMERICANENGLISH 

hension  that  changes  the  sense.  An  instance  is  cau- 
cus, which  means  an  informal  and  preliminary  meet- 
ing, but  which  is  "grotesquely  misapplied  in  Great 
Britain" — so  says  the  greatest  British  authority,  Mur- 
ray, "to  an  organization  or  system."  If  an  Eng- 
lishman reads  in  an  American  paper  of  the  holding 
of  a  caucus,  understanding  the  word  in  the  sense  that 
it  seems  his  countrymen  have  chosen  to  give  it,  one 
may  well  see  that  he  will  find  the  phrase  unintelligible. 

Another  word  that  seems  to  have  suffered  a  sort  of 
sea  change  in  Great  Britain,  though  not  enough  to 
spoil  it,  is  fall,  meaning  autumn,  which  word,  by  the 
way,  is  only  by  present  practice  especially  American, 
it  having  been  formerly  in  use  on  the  other  side  of  the 
oc^an.  However,  it  is  not  in  general  use  there  now, 
and  our  understanding  of  the  term  does  not  seem  to 
be  very  accurately  grasped;  at  least  I  read  some  time 
ago  in  the  London  Agricultural  Gazette  a  letter  from 
Prof.  J.  P.  Sheldon,  headed  "The  Fall,"  and  begin- 
ning with  the  statement  that  "by  the  terse  and  indica- 
tive pair  of  words  that  are  placed  at  the  head  of  this 
article,  our  American  cousins  denote  the  last  three 
months  of  the  year,  or  possibly  some  of  them  leave  out 
the  last  month  of  the  twelve."  What  American  ever 
included  December  as  a  "fall"  month — or  failed  to 
include  September? 

Sometimes  Englishmen  charge  us  with  inventing 
uncouth  expressions  that  it  is  safe  to  say  no  American 
ever  heard,  like  the  impossible  verb  to  excur,  which 


MISUNDERSTOOD     AMERICANISMS       319 

the  Pall  Mall  Gazette  mentions  as  "another  Ameri- 
canism." "We  are  apt  in  England,"  says  Mr.  Wil- 
liam Archer  (Pall  Mall  Magazine,  19.188)  "to  class 
as  an  Americanism  every  unfamiliar  locution  which 
we  do  not  happen  to  like." 

Sometimes,  and  oddest  of  all,  an  English  writer 
attributes  to  us  purely  British  slang,  never  heard  in 
this  country,  perhaps  not  even  understood  here.  A 
recent  London  letter  to  a  New  York  daily  has  this 
sentence:  "Such  critics  for  the  most  part  accuse 
'Kentish  Suburb'  and  those  who  agree  with  him, 
not  only  of  bad  business  management  but  also  of 
swank,  which  is  the  British  equivalent  for  what  you 
in  America  call  'putting  on  side.'  "  We  in  Amercia! 
Who  ever  heard  an  American  speak  of  "putting  on 
side"?  It  is  straight,  pure  Cockney,  Cockney  "of  the 
first  water,"  as  Dickens  would  say.  We  might  as  well 
be  accused  of  calling  a  hat  "han  'at." 

And  when  an  English  writer  undertakes  to  discuss 
Americanisms  at  large,  oh,  dear,  dear,  the  work  he 
makes  of  it!  Some  instances  of  the  blunders  that 
are  sure  to  result  are  given  in  the  note  on  Farmer's 
compilation,  in  the  second  chapter  of  this  book.  But 
Farmer  is  accuracy  itself,  compared  with  the  wild 
guesses  that  pass  for  definitions  of  expressions  pe- 
culiar to  this  country  in  the  book  entitled:  "Passing 
English  of  the  Victorian  Era,  a  Dictionary  of  Hetero- 
dox English,  Slang  and  Phrase,"  by  J.  Redding  Ware, 
Routledge  &  Sons,  London,  not  dated,  but  issued,  I 


320  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

think,  in  1913.  It  is  an  important  work,  compiled 
with  much  (even  though  in  some  cases  unavailing) 
labor;  and  will  be  valued  for  reference  in  time  to 
come.  For  this  reason,  it  seems  worth  while  to  cor- 
rect here  some  fifty  of  the  many  errors  into  which  the 
author  has  fallen,  not  that  they  would  mislead  an 
American,  but  for  the  benefit  of  any  Englishman  who 
may  possibly  honor  this  book  with  his  attention, 

Mr.  Ware's  method  of  procedure  with  American 
terms,  or  what  he  supposes  to  be  such,  has  been  to 
clip  out  every  newspaper  article  he  has  noticed  that 
contains  one  of  them,  guess  at  the  meaning  of  it,  and 
give  his  guess  as  the  definition;  and  he  is,  almost  be- 
yond belief,  unfortunate  in  his  conjectures.  Of  course 
not  all  his  blunders  are  explained  in  this  way,  but 
many  of  them  are.  I  take  examples  in  alphabetical 
order,  just  as  they  come  in  the  book. 

"Albany  Beef,  Unattractive  Viands."  Here  the 
clipping  itself  gave  the  correct  definition,  an  article 
by  G.  A.  Sala  containing  reference  to  "Hudson  River 
sturgeon,  otherwise  known  as  Albany  beef."  There 
you  have  it;  Albany  beef  is  simply  the  flesh  of  the 
sturgeon,  and  so  far  from  its  being  "unattractive,"  a 
recent  advertisement  of  a  dealer  mentions  it  as  "the 
monarch  of  all  fish  to  eat,"  and  the  appended  price 
list  of  his  large  stock  gives  a  higher  figure  per  pound 
for  sturgeon  than  for  any  other  fish  with  the  single 
exception  of  brook  trout. 

"Amen  Corner,  A  church."     This  is  a  pure  guess. 


MISUNDERSTOOD     AMERICANISMS       32 1 

The  Amen  Corner  was  a  seat  in  the  lobby  of  the  Fifth 
Avenue  Hotel,  often  occupied  by  gentlemen  who  were 
far  from  being  regular  church  attendants. 

"Arctics,  Winter  clothing."  The  clipping  itself 
shows  that  this  definition  is  absurdly  wrong,  for  it 
reads:  "I  hate  a  hotel  where  you  have  to  get  up  at 
4.15,  dress  in  a  cold  room,  and  walk  down  to  the  sta- 
tion because  the  bus  doesn't  go  to  that  train,  and 
about  half  way  down  you  discover  that  you  left  your 
arctics  in  the  office."  Is  one  likely  to  leave  behind, 
by  oversight,  under  the  circumstances  mentioned,  his 
"winter  clothing"?  Arctics  are  a  special  form  of 
overshoes. 

"Ax  TO  Grind,  A  personal  end  to  serve,  originally 
a  favor  to  ask,  from  men  in  backwoods  pretending  to 
want  to  grind  their  axes  when  in  reality  they  required 
a  drink."  Here  the  definition  is  not  far  from  right, 
but  the  explanation  is  "way  off."  The  expression 
comes  from  an  old  story,  attributed  I  believe  to  Ben- 
jamin Franklin,  of  a  stranger  who  cajoled  a  farmer's 
boy  into  turning  a  grindstone  for  him  very  laboriously, 
and  when  he  had  sharpened  his  ax,  instead  of  reward- 
ing the  boy,  abused  him  for  idling  instead  of  going  to 
school,  where  he  ought  to  have  been  an  hour  earlier. 

"Ax  Grinders,  Men  who  grumble,  especially  po- 
litically." Another  wild  guess;  nothing  to  suggest  it 
in  the  clipping  quoted. 

"Back  Down,  To  yield;  that  is  to  say,  'make  a 
back,'  as  boys  at  leap-frog,  to  enable  the  other  players 


322  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

to  get  over."  Here  is  a  double  error,  the  expression, 
though  correctly  defined,  being  wrongly  explained 
and  wrongly  marked  "American,"  as  is  shown  by  en- 
try in  Murray  (which  includes  reference  to  the  figura- 
tive use),  "Back  down,  descend  as  one  does  a  lad- 
der"— with  the  earliest  known  appearance  of  the  term 
in  print,  which  was  in  a  London  journal  of  Oct.  11, 
1880. 

"Baseball,  Small,  insignificant,  suggested  by  the 
small  size  of  the  ball  in  question."  The  clipping 
speaks  of  a  baseball  moustache. 

"Beadles,  People  of  Virginia,  probably  from  their 
high,  old-fashioned  behavior,  which  the  Northerner 
associates  with  that  expiring  church  functionary." 
What  "Northerner,"  meaning  an  American  North- 
erner, ever  heard  of  a  beadle,  except  as  he  may  read 
of  him  in  British  books?  What  American  ever  heard 
the  Virginians  called  beadles? 

"Beef-Heads  or  Cowboys,  People  of  Texas  and 
the  West  of  U.  S.  A.,  the  general  employment  of 
the  inhabitants  being  the  harrying  of  cattle."  Beef- 
head  is  a  new  word  to  me,  though  I  cannot  say  it  does 
not  exist.  But  what  about  "harrying"?  To  harry 
can  only  mean,  as  applied  to  cattle,  either  to  torment 
or  to  steal;  are  these  the  "general  employment  of  the 
inhabitants"  of  "the  West  of  U.  S.  A."? 

"Blank  Please,  A  negative  euphemism  for  the 
unending  'damned,'  with  a  polite  request  added." 
The  clipping  says,  "We  may  put  what  we  blank  please 


MISUNDERSTOOD     AMERICANISMS       323 

in  the  editorial  columns,"  and  Mr.  Ware  thinks  the 
please  is  a  part  of  the  euphemism. 

"Blue-Grass,  People  of  Kentucky."  The  clipping 
speaks  of  a  blue-grass  woman. 

"Blue-Noses,  Canadians."  The  clipping  itself 
shows  the  term  restricted  to  Nova  Scotians,  though  I 
think  it  sometimes  includes  the  people  of  New  Bruns- 
wick as  well.  It  certainly  never  means  Canadians 
in  general. 

"Blue  Pig,  Whiskey."  The  clipping  speaks  of 
"remarkable  animals  discovered  in  Maine,  striped  and 
blue  pigs."  What  a  striped  pig  may  be,  I  do  not 
know;  but  a  blue  pig  is  a  place  v/here  whiskey  is  sur- 
reptitiously sold,  and  by  no  means  the  whiskey  itself. 

"Bobolink,  Talkative  person."  Such  people  may 
sometimes  be  called  bobolinks,  perhaps,  just  as  one 
might  call  them  jackdaws  or  parrots;  but  the  word 
certainly  has  no  such  meaning. 

"Broomstick  (Canadian),  A  gun  or  rifle;  no  word 
could  more  perfectly  outline  the  peaceful  character  of 
the  Canadian  as  distinct  from  his  American  brother, 
when  it  is  borne  in  mind  that  the  latter  calls  his  gun, 
shooting  iron.  The  domesticity  of  broomstick  yields 
history  in  itself."  If  it  were  true  that  the  Canadian, 
unlike  the  American,  gives  his  gun  a  strictly  domestic 
name,  the  inference  to  my  mind  would  be  that  the 
former  is  much  more  in  the  habit  of  using  the  weapon 
than  is  the  latter — considers  it  a  sort  of  necessary  do- 
mestic implement,  as  it  were. 


324  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

"Buncombe,  Politically,  or  possibly  any  publicly, 
spoken  flattery,  from  a  celebrated  orator  of  honied 
(sic — should  be  honeyed)  phrases  named  Buncombe." 
Wrong  from  beginning  to  end,  and  the  clipping  shows 
it,  being  the  old  story  of  ''the  member  from  the  County 
of  Buncombe"  who  was  indifferent  to  the  gradual  dis- 
appearance of  his  audience,  because  he  was  making 
a  speech  intended  for  home  circulation.  What  his 
name  was,  does  not  appear,  but  anybody  could  see  that 
it  is  most  unlikely  to  have  been  Buncombe ;  and  there 
is  nothing  whatever  to  indicate  that  he  was  getting  off 
"honied"  phrases. 

"Bunko,  Doubtful,  shifty."  "He  was  taken  for  a 
bunko  man,"  says  the  clipping.  A  bunko  man  is  by 
no  means  a  "doubtful"  person,  but  a  professional 
cheat. 

"C.  S.,  Abbreviation  of  Confederate  Soldiers." 
The  "kS"  stands,  not  for  soldiers  but  for  States. 

"Chump,  A  youth  who  is  cheated  of  his  money, 
especially  by  the  gentler  sex."  The  clipping  char- 
acterizes as  a  chump  a  fellow  who  is  "buying  ice- 
cream for  his  girl  with  money  he  ought  to  save  to  buy 
lunch."  Anybody  ought  to  see  that  he  is  intended 
to  be  described  as  simply  a  goose.  He  would  have 
been  just  as  much  a  chump  if  he  had  wasted  his  money 
in  treating  a  crowd  of  boys  or  in  buying  superfluous 
luxuries  for  himself;  and  there  is  no  implication  that 
anybody  cheated  him. 

"Claim,  To  recognize  in  travelling;  in  a  railway 


MISUNDERSTOOD     AMERICANISMS       325 

carriage  one  may  frequently  hear  the  inquiry,  'Surely 
I  claim  you — we  met  at  Suez?'  "  I  do  not  believe 
anybody  ever  heard  a  phrase  like  that  from  the  lips  of 
an  American,  though  of  course  we  speak  (and  cor- 
rectly) of  claiming  a  person's  acquaintance. 

"CoMSTOCKiSM,  Opposition  to  the  nude  in  art; 
Comstock  was  quite  a  public  man  in  America."  The 
definition  is  hardly  correct;  and  the  comment  is,  well, 
funny. 

"Confidence  Queen,  A  female  detective,  outcome 
of  American  state  of  society."  A  confidence  queen  is 
by  no  means  a  detective,  but  a  kind  of  person  that  likes 
to  have  as  little  as  possible  to  do  with  detectives; 
and  there  is  nothing  whatever,  even  by  indirect  in- 
ference, in  the  subjoined  clipping  to  suggest  the  mis- 
conception. 

"Cracker,  Native;  origin  unknown."  The  clip- 
ping speaks  of  a  "South  Carolina  cracker,"  giving 
some  color  to  Mr.  Ware's  supposition  that  cracker 
means  native  in  general,  and  not,  as  is  the  fact,  a 
southern  poor  white. 

"Creoles,  People  of  Louisiana,  probably  a  satire 
by  the  North  upon  illegitimate  mingling  of  slave- 
owners' and  slaves'  blood."  Wrong  from  beginning 
to  end;  see  the  word  in  the  last  preceding  chapter  of 
this  book.  What  "satire"  can  possibly  be  imagined 
in  the  case  I  am  unable  to  conjecture. 

"Cut-Throat,  Destructive,  reckless,  applied  to 
card-playing."     The  clipping  itself  should   suggest 


326  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

the  correct  interpretation  of  the  word,  that  it  denotes 
a  special  form  of  the  game  mentioned,  and  by  no 
means  implies  any  bloodthirstiness  in  the  players,  es- 
pecially as  they  are  described  as  having  "a  social 
game." 

"Dampen — To  damn."  The  clipping  says  of  a 
play  that  "the  heroine,  dying  so  soon,  rather  dampens 
the  piece."  The  verb,  in  the  sense  "to  dull,  deaden, 
depress,  deject,"  is  as  old  in  British  literature  as  the 
beginning  of  the  16th  century.  Why  Mr.  Ware  sup- 
posed that  it  had  any  other  meaning  in  the  paper  that 
he  clipped,  or  that  there  was  anything  American  about 
its  use  there,  does  not  appear. 

"Dead  Give-Aw^ay,  A  swindle,  deception."  Here 
is  another  case  where  Mr.  Ware's  own  clipping  should 
have  given  him  the  proper  definition,  if  he  had  con- 
sidered it  with  any  care,  for  it  shows  plainly  enough 
that  what  the  writer  had  in  mind  was  the  very  reverse 
of  deception,  being  in  fact  an  undesired  revelation  of 
a  secret,  the  only  sense  in  which  the  phrase  is  ever  used 
in  this  country. 

"Dime  Museum,  A  common  show,  a  poor  piece; 
from  New  York,  which  has  a  passion  for  monstrosity 
displays  called  Dime  Museums,  the  dime  being  the 
eighth  of  a  dollar."  One  would  think  that  the  very 
words  he  so  misconstrues  would  themselves  have  en- 
abled Mr.  Ware  to  get  this  somewhere  nearer  right. 
"Museum"  should  have  shown  him  that  reference  is 
to  an  establishment  and  not  to  a  "show"  or  a  "piece"; 


MISUNDERSTOOD     AMERICANISMS       327 

and  really,  now,  does  "dime"  suggest  to  the  lexi- 
cographer the  fraction  one  eighth  ? 

"Dirt  Road,  The  highway,  as  distinct  from  the 
railroad,  which  is  gravelled;  probably  railway  official 
satire."  "Satire"  again;  what  looks  like  satire  in  the 
expression?  A  dirt  road  is  an  earth  road  as  distin- 
guished from  one  that  is  paved;  and  no  more  in  this 
country  than  in  Europe  is  it  universally  true  that  rail- 
roads are  gravelled. 

"Doughnut,  A  baker,  especially  the  German  va- 
riety; probably  from  the  too  frequent  flabby,  doughy 
face  of  the  sickly  operative."  A  doughnut  is  a  kind 
of  cake,  not  of  German  origin  and  not  favored  by 
Germans;  and  the  explanation — well,  doesn't  it  really 
seem  that  this  author  tries  to  go  as  far  wrong  as  he 
possibly  can? 

"Eighteen  Carat  Lie,  A  good  sound  lie,  eighteen 
carat  gold  being  good,  thorough  metal."  What  "thor- 
ough" metal  may  be,  the  present  writer  does  not  know, 
never  having  heard  the  adjective  used  in  that  con- 
nection. It  certainly  cannot  mean  pure,  considering 
that  pure  gold  is  nearly  half  as  rich  again  as  that  de- 
scribed as  eighteen  carat. 

"Freak,  Actors  who  lose  professional  caste  by  aid- 
ing in  eccentric  shows."  A  freak  is  a  very  queer  per- 
son, a  monstrosity,  like  a  bearded  woman. 

"Get  the  G.  B.,  Dismissed,  G.  B.  being  'go  by.'  " 
"G.  B."  means  "grand  bounce." 

"Hustler,  Name  invented  for  flaming  advertise- 


328  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

ments."  No  clipping.  Where  on  earth  did  Mr.  Ware 
get  his  definition?  A  hustler  is  an  active,  pushing 
person. 

"Jay  Town,  Valueless."  The  clipping  itself  de- 
fines the  term  correctly,  for  it  says:  "A  jay  town  is 
a  country  town."  Are  the  words  "country"  and  "val- 
ueless" synonymous  in  Mr.  Ware's  vocabulary? 

"Nickel  Plate,  An  equivalent  to  our  German  sil- 
ver, a  swindle,  a  social  fraud."  Nickel  plate  means 
in  the  United  States  exactly  what  it  means  in  all  the 
rest  of  the  English-speaking  world;  and  the  applica- 
tion made  of  the  term  in  the  clipping,  to  the  New 
York,  Chicago  &  St.  Louis  Railroad,  implies  nothing 
like  swindle  or  fraud,  implies  nothing  at  all,  in  fact, 
for  it  is  attributed  to  the  calling  of  the  road  by  initials, 
N.  Y.  C.  L.  suggesting  nickel,  and  so  nickel  plate. 

"On  His  Ear,  In  disgrace;  from  American  mothers' 
grabbing  their  boys'  ears  while  battling  in  the  streets 
with  other  boys."  Whether  American  mothers  are 
especially  addicted  to  the  reprehensible  practice  de- 
scribed, might  perhaps  be  questioned;  but  "on  his 
ear"  never  meant,  in  this  country,  anything  but  ex- 
cited and  irritated.  The  next  entry  is  even  wilder. 
It  is  this: 

"On  His  Feet,  Ruined."  No  clipping;  and  what 
possessed  the  man  to  suppose  that  we  Americans  re- 
verse the  plain  ordinary  meaning  of  the  phrase  that 
describes  an  erect  posture,  and  has  been  used  for  cen- 


MISUNDERSTOOD     AMERICANISMS       329 

turies  metaphorically  to  describe  the  position  of  a 
business  man  who  no  longer  needs  support,  being  able 
to  care  for  himself,  passes  the  present  writer's  ability 
to  conjecture.  The  next  entry  among  "ons"  is  simply 
cryptic.     It  runs  thus: 

"On  Ice,  Dead;  from  placing  body  on  ice  to  aid 
in  faking  it."     What  sort  of  process  is  faking  a  body? 

"Pistol  Pockets,  Warnings  not  to  fool."  No 
clipping.  Who  ever  heard  anybody  use  the  term  in 
any  such  sense,  or  in  any  sense  but  that  conveyed  by 
the  ordinary  meaning  of  the  words,  pockets  intended 
to  hold  pistols? 

"Plug,  To  get  into  difficulties."  No  clipping. 
No  American  ever  used  the  verb  in  the  sense  given. 
"To  plug  along"  is  to  make  headway  against  diffi- 
culties. 

"Pretty  Steep,  Threatening."  The  term  is  com- 
monly applied  to  a  charge  for  a  service,  and  means 
simply  exorbitant. 

"Pusley,  Most  mysterious — who  was  Pusley?" 
The  clipping  includes  the  expression  "as  mean  as 
pusley,"  the  last  word  being  a  corruption  of  the  name 
of  a  troublesome  weed,  purslane. 

"Ragged  Edge,  Deserted."  This  extraordinary 
definition  is  one  of  Mr.  Ware's  guesses,  and  a  not 
unnatural  one  this  time,  though  wildly  incorrect.  The 
clipping  reads:  "Father,  daughter  and  child  sailed 
yesterday  for  Paris,  leaving  poor  Tom  on  the  ragged 


330  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

edge."  Poor  Tom  may  have  been  deserted;  but  what 
the  writer  meant  to  say  of  him  was  that  he  was  left  in 
a  condition  of  suspense  and  distress. 

"Real  Healthy,  Well  brained."  No  clipping, 
and  surely  no  comment  is  necessary.  So  with  the 
next: 

"Sam  Hill,  Some  hell,  replacing  the  name  of  a 
notoriously  wild-tongued  man." 

"Scaling  Down,  Repudiation  of  debt."  This  is 
about  the  nearest  right  of  the  whole  list,  incorrect  as 
it  is.  Scaling  down  is  a  sort  of  compromise  (or  com- 
position, I  believe  the  English  call  it),  involving  in- 
deed some  deduction  from  the  debt,  but  by  no  means 
repudiation.  In  fact  a  debt  could  not  be  both  re- 
pudiated and  scaled  down. 

"Screed,  A  pelt  or  muck-running."  Does  this 
definition  suggest  any  idea  to  the  reader?  It  is  a 
meaningless  group  of  words  to  me.  A  screed  is  sim- 
ply a  newspaper  story. 

"Squasho,  Negro,  probably  from  the  negro's  love 
of  melons,  pumpkins,  squashes,  &c."  There's  ety- 
mology for  you.  Did  any  reader  ever  hear  a  negro 
called  a  squasho? 

"Stuck  Up,  Moneyless,  figurative  expression  de- 
rived from  being  'stuck  up'  by  highwaymen."  Who 
ever  heard  of  a  man's  being  "stuck  up  by  highway- 
men"? Who  ever  heard  of  "stuck  up"  used  in  any 
meaning  than  conceited? 

"Take  In,  Patronize,  from  taking  in  papers."     No 


MISUNDERSTOOD     AMERICANISMS       33 1 

American  "takes  in"  a  paper;  he  simply  takes  it.  To 
take  in  is  to  bamboozle,  fool,  delude. 

"Torchlight  Procession,  One  of  the  more  fiery 
American  drinks."  Did  the  reader  ever  taste,  or  hear 
of,  any  beverage  so  called? 

"Wolverines,  People  of  Michigan,  probably  from 
the  territory's  being  over-run  with  wolves."  Why  the 
Michiganders  are  ever  called  wolverines,  I  don't  know; 
but  certainly  a  wolverine  is  not  a  wolf. 

"Yaller  Dog;  Yellow  is  the  tint  of  most  dogs  in 
America;  hence  it  is  the  most  searching  term  of  or- 
dinary contempt."  I  think  that  entry  may  be  noted 
without  comment,  and  may  appropriately  wind  up  the 
list  of  Americanisms  according  to  Ware. 


CHAPTER  SIX 

THE  BIBLIOGRAPHY  OF  THE  SUBJECT 

The  first  section  of  the  following  list  is  believed  to 
be  complete.  The  second  section,  of  course,  cannot 
claim  to  be  more  than  an  attempt.  The  third  and 
fourth  sections,  combined  with  the  bibliographical 
work  of  the  Dialect  Society  referred  to  at  the  end  of 
this  chapter,  are  believed  to  cover,  without  very  seri- 
ous omission,  all  periodicals  in  the  English  language 
to  about  the  close  of  the  last  century.  Since  that 
epoch,  periodical  literature  has  so  enormously  ex- 
panded, with  such  great  diversification  in  style  and 
contents,  that  it  has  become  quite  impossible  to  review 
it  exhaustively.  It  is  hoped  that  constant  and  dili- 
gent study  of  all  published  indexes  to  such  literature 
has  resulted  in  securing  references  to  all  important 
articles  in  important  monthlies,  quarterlies,  and  many 
weeklies;  though  undoubtedly  many  contributions  of 
some  value  in  more  "popular"  journals,  and  especially 
in  daily  papers,  have  escaped  the-  compiler's  attention, 
which  is  regrettable;  but  how  in  the  world  could  any- 
body get  them  all  ? 


332 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  333 

I 

BOOKS  ENTIRELY  DEVOTED  TO  "AMERICANISMS" 

1.  A  Vocabulary,  or  Collection  of  Words  and  Phrases  which 

have  been  supposed  to  be  peculiar  to  the  United  States, 
to  which  is  prefixed  an  Essay  on  the  Present  State  of 
the  English  Language  in  the  United  States.  By  John 
Pickering.  Boston;  Cummings  &  Milliard,  1816; 
8vo;  pp.  208. 

2.  Letter  to  the  Hon.  John  Pickering,  on  the  subject  of  his 

Vocabulary.  By  Noah  Webster.  Boston;  West  & 
Richardson,  1817;  small  8vo;  pp.  60. 

3.  Glossary  or  Supposed  Americanisms,  collected  by  Al- 

tred  L.  Elwyn,  M.D.  Philadelphia;  J.  B.  Lippin- 
cott  &  Co.,  1859;  12mo;  pp.  122. 

4.  Americanisms;  the  English  of  the  New  World.     By  M. 

Schele  de  Vere,  LL.D.  New  York;  Charles  Scrib- 
ner  &  Co.,  1872;  8vo;  pp.  686. 

5.  Dictionary  of  Americanisms;  a  Glossary  of  Words  and 

Phrases  usually  regarded  as  peculiar  to  the  United 
States.  By  John  Russell  Bartlett.  Fourth  edi- 
tion,    Boston;  Little,  Brown  &  Co.,  1877;  8vo;  pp.  814. 

6.  Americanisms,  Old  and  New,   a  Dictionary  of  Words, 

Phrases  and  Colloquialisms  peculiar  to  the  United 
States,  British  America,  the  West  Indies,  etc.,  etc.,  their 
Derivation,  Meaning  and  Application,  together  with 
numerous  Anecdotal,  Historical,  Explanatory  and  Folk- 
Lore  Notes.  Compiled  and  edited  by  John  S.  Farmer. 
London;  Thos.  Poulter  &  Sons,  1889;  "foolscap  4to"; 
pp.  564. 

7.  Political    Americanisms;    a    Glossary    of    Terms    and 

Phrases  current  at  different  periods  in  American  Poli- 


334  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

tics.  By  Charles  Led  yard  Norton.  New  York; 
Longmans,  Green  &  Co.,  1890;  16mo;  pp.  134. 

8.  New  Dictionary  of  Americanisms,  being  a  Glossary  of 

Words  supposed  to  be  Peculiar  to  the  United  States  and 
Canada.  By  Sylva  Clapin.  New  York;  Louis  Weiss 
&  Co.;  no  date,  but  issued  in  July,  1902;  8vo;  pp.  582. 

9.  An  American  Glossary,  being  an  Attempt  to  Illustrate 

Certain  Americanisms  on  Historical  Principles.  By 
Richard  H.  Thornton.  London;  Francis  &  Co., 
1912;  8vo,  two  volumes;  pp.  together,  990. 

10.  The  American  Language,  a  Preliminary   Inquiry  into 

the  Development  of  English  in  the  United  States.  By 
H.  L.  Mencken,  New  York;  Alfred  A.  Knopf,  1919; 
8vo;  pp.  374. 

11.  A  Handbook  of  American  Speech.     By  Prof.  Calvin 

L.  Lewis.  Chicago;  Scott,  Foresman  &  Co.,  1910; 
12mo;  pp.  246. 

12.  Plea  for  an  American  Language.     By  Elias  Molee. 

Chicago;  John  Anderson  &  Co.,  1888. 

13.  WOORDENBOEK  DER   EnGELSCHE   SpREEKTAAL  AND   AMERI- 

CANISMS.    By  A.  E.  Barentz.     Amsterdam,   1894. 

14.  Pronunciation    of    Standard    English    in    America. 

By  Prof.  Geo.  P.  Krapp.  Oxford  University  Press, 
1919;  12mo;  pp.  236.  The  preface  says:  "It  seems 
scarcely  credible  that  any  one  who  knows  the  facts 
should  think  it  possible  to  impose  British  standards 
upon  American  speech." 

15.  The  Question  of  Our  Speech.     By  Henry  James, 

Boston;  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.,  1905. 

TWO  PAMPHLETS  OF  IMPORTANCE 

English  in  the  United  States.     By  W.  C.  Benet.     Abbe- 
ville, S.  C,  1880. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  335 

The   American   Language.     By   J.    F.    Healy.     Pittsburg, 
Pa.,  no  date,  about  1911. 

II 
CHAPTERS  OR  PARTS  OF  BOOKS 

1.  John    Witherspoon,    D.D.     Essays    on    Americanisms, 

Perversions  of  Language  in  the  United  States,  Cant 
Phrases,  etc.,  in  4th  vol.  of  his  works,  published  in 
8vo,  Philadelphia,  1801.  (The  earliest  work  on  Ameri- 
can vulgarisms.  Originally  published  as  a  series  of 
essays,  entitled  "The  Druid,"  which  appeared  in  a 
periodical  in  1761.) 

2.  Adiel     Sherwood.     Gazetteer    of    Georgia.     Charleston, 

1827;  Philadelphia,  1829;  Washington,  1837.  Has 
glossary  of  slang  and  vulgar  words  used  in  the  Southern 
States. 

3.  T.  RoMEYN  Beck,  M.D.,  LL.D.     "Notes  on  Pickering's 

Vocabulary."  Albany  Institute  Transactions,  Vol.  I,  p. 
25;  Albany,  N.  Y.,  1830. 

4.  James  Russell   Lowell.     Biglow   Papers,    1848,    1864. 

Introductions  to  First  and  Second  Series,  and  Glossary. 

5.  Charles    Astor    Bristed.     "The    English    Language    in 

America,"  in  Cambridge  Essays.  London;  John  W. 
Parker  &  Son,  1855.  (Shows  "rare"  meat,  and 
"corned"  for  drunk,  to  be  expressions  of  English  origin.) 

6.  W.  C.  Fowler,  LL.D.     English  Grammar.     New  York; 

Harper  &  Bros.,  1855,  8vo;  pp.  119-129.     Also  12mo, 
1858;  pp.  23-27. 
,  7.  George  P.  Marsh.     Lectures  on  the  English  Language. 
Fourth    edition;    New   York;    Charles    Scribner's    Sons, 
1859.     Lecture  30,  "The  English  Language  in  Amer- 


336  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

»8.  G.  F.  Graham.  A  Book  about  Words;  London;  Long- 
mans, Green  &  Co.,  1869;  chap.  13,  "Slang  Words  and 
Americanisms." 
9.  R.  G.  White.  Words  and  Their  Uses;  New  York;  Shel- 
don &  Co.,  1870;  chap.  3,  "British-English  and  Ameri- 
can-English." Also,  Every-day  English;  Boston; 
Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.,  1880;  chap.  6,  "American 
Speech." 

10.  PRor,   W.   D.   Whitney.     Language   and   the    Study   of 

Language,  5th  edition;  New  York;  Charles  Scribner  & 
Co.,  1870;  pp.  171-174. 

11.  G.  C.  Eggleston.     a  Man  of  Honor;  New  York;  Orange 

Judd  Co.,  1873.  (Illustrates  various  Virginia  pro- 
vincialisms.) 

12.  A.    J.    Ellis.     Early    English    Pronunciation;    London; 

Trubner  &  Co.,  1874.  Part  4,  pp.  1217-'30.  (In- 
cludes considerable  notice  of  pronunciation  used  by 
American  humorists.) 

13.  G.  A.  Barringer.     "Etude  sur  V Anglais  parte  aux  Etats 

Unis  (La  Langue  Americaine) /'  in  Actes  de  la  Societe 
Philologique  de  Paris,  March,  1874.  (Largely  trans- 
ferred from  De  Vere.) 

14.  Gilbert  M.  Tucker.     Our  Common  Speech.     New  York; 

Dodd,  Mead  &  Co.,  1895.  Pages  151-234,  "American 
English." 

15.  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Fallows.     Synonyms  and  Antonyms; 

New  York;  F.  H.  Revell,  1886;  pp.  294-342,  "Dic- 
tionary of  Americanisms,  Briticisms,  etc." 

16.  R.  O.  Williams.     Our  Dictionaries;  New  York;  Henry 

Holt  &  Co.,  1890;  pp.  71-128. 

17.  Brander     Matthew^s.     Americanisms     and     Briticisms; 

New  York;  Harper  &  Bros.,  1892;  pp.  1-59. 

18.  Charles  Wooward  Stearns,  M.D.     Shakespeare  Treas- 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  337 

ury  of  Wisdom;  New  York;  G.  P.  Putnam  &  Son,  1869. 
Chap.  12,  "Americanisms  in  Shakespeare's  Plays." 

19.  Edward   Eggleston.     The   Hoosier    Schoolmaster;    New 

York;  Orange  Judd  &  Co.,  1871.     Passim. 

20.  William  Swinton.     Rambles  among  Words;  New  York; 

Ivison,  Blakeman,  Taylor  &  Co.,  1872.  Ramble  12, 
"English  in  America." 

21.  James    Maitland.     American    Slang    Dictionary.     Chi- 

cago; R.  J.  Kittredge  &  Co.,  1891;  8vo;  pp.  308. 
Passim.  (This  book  is  an  American  dictionary  of 
English  slang  in  general,  by  no  means  confined  to  Amer- 
ican slang.) 

22.  Anonymous.     America    from   a   French   Point   of   View. 

London;  Wm.  Heinemann,  1897.  Chap.  12,  "Ameri- 
can English."  Author  says:  "To  my  ears,  the  Eng- 
lish of  their  best  people  is  equal,  if  not  better,  than  that 
of  the  same  class  in  Great  Britain." 

23.  Henry   Cabot  Lodge.     Certain   Accepted  Heroes;    New 

York;  Harper  &  Bros.,  1897.  Pages  95-114,  "Shake- 
speare's Americanisms."  Revision  of  article  in  Har- 
per's Monthly,  90.252. 

24.  Dialect  Notes,  Vol  1.     Norwood,  Mass.;  American  Dia- 

lect Society,  1896.  Pages  428-437,  "British  vs.  Ameri- 
can English,"  by  E.  A.  Phipson. 

25.  William   Archer.     America  Today;   New  York;    Chas. 

Scribner's  Sons,  1899.  Pages  216-260,  "The  Ameri- 
can Language"  (partly  a  review  of  the  last  chapter  of 
"Our  Common  Speech"). 

26.  Brander  Matthews.     Parts  of  Speech;  New  York;  Chas. 

Scribner's  Sons,  1901.     Several  chapters. 

27.  H.  W.  &  F.  G.  Fowler.     The  King's  English;   Oxford; 

Clarendon  Press,  1906.     Page  23  et  seq. 

28.  J.    R.    Ware.     Passing    English   of   the   Viptorian    Era. 


338  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

London;  Routledge  &  Sons,  no  date,  but  about  1912. 
Passim — see  fifth  chapter  of  book  now  in  the  reader's 
hand. 

29.  Margaret  W.  Morley.     The  Carolina  Mountains;  Bos- 

ton; Houghton,  Mifflin  Co.,  1913.  Chap.  17,  "The 
Speech  of  the  Mountains." 

30.  Geo.    J.    Hagar,    editor.     New    Universities    Dictionary; 

New  York;  World  Syndicate  Co.,  1915.  Page  996, 
"Dictionary  of  Americanisms." 

31.  Alec.     Francis.     Americans,    an    Impression;    London; 

Andrew  Melrose,  1909.     Page  123  et  seq. 

32.  Mark  Twain.     Hillcrest  Edition  of  Works;  New  York; 

Harper  &  Brothers,  1898.  Vol.  20,  page  396.  "Con- 
cerning the  American  Language." 

33.  Richard  Burton.     Literary  Likings;   1898.     Chapter  on 

American  English. 

34.  R.  J.  Lloyd.     Northern  English;  Leipsic;  Teubner,  1908. 

Makes  various  comparisons  between  British  and  Ameri- 
can speech. 

35.  T.  W.  Harrison.     English  Sources  of  American  Dialect. 

American  Antiquarian  Society  Proceedings,  4.15.9. 

36.  Frank  Dilnot.     The  New  America;   New  York;   Mac- 

millan  Co.,  1919.  Chap.  3,  "The  written  and  spoken 
word." 

37.  Worcester's  Dictionary,  ed.   1881,  page  L. 

Also  various  encyclopaedias — the  American,  Appleton's, 
Chambers',  Library  of  Universal  Knowledge,  &c.  Article 
"Americanisms." 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  339 

f 

III 

ARTICLES  IN  FOREIGN  PERIODICALS 

(The  figures  at  the  left  of  the  decimal  point  indicate  the 
volume;  those  at  the  right,  the  page.) 

Academy:  47.193;  47.278;  47.317. 

All  the  Year  Round:  25.270;  76.38. 

Archiv  EUR  das  Studium  der  Neueren  Sprachen:  4.1 
("Die  Englische  Sprache  in  Nordamerika"). 

Blackwood's  Edinburgh  Magazine:  89.421;  102.399  ("In- 
roads upon  English");  183.118.  Copied  in  Littell's 
Living  Age,  95.218. 

Canadian  Monthly:  1.87.     (Review  of  De  Vere.) 

Chambers'  Journal:  April  19,  1856,  p.  249;  Dec.  20,  1873, 
p.  801;  March  31,  1875,  p.  171;  Sept.  25,  1875;  p.  609; 
Jan.  30,  1886,  p.  70. 

CoRNHiLL  Magazine:  58.363. 

Die  Neueren  Sprachen:  2.243;  2.520  ("English  in  America," 
by  Prof.  C.  H.  Grandgent). 

Eclectic  Review:  (N.  S.)  13.356 — April,  1820  (Review  of 
Pickering) . 

Illustrated  London  News:  82.87  (G.  A.  Sala,  Review  of 
Tucker  in  North-American  Review);  84.339  (Sala,  Re- 
view of  Tucker  in  Albany  Institute  Transactions) ;  84.543 
(Sala,  Reply  to  Smalley  in  N.  Y.  Tribune), 

Knowledge:  6.319;  8.171;  9.159,  178,  196,  249,  275,  332, 
352;  10.14,  38,  41,  66,  113,  183,  230,  274;  11.28,  82, 
129,  183,  223. 

Leisure  Hour:  26.110;  36.827. 

London  Quarterly:  57.392  (Review  of  De  Vere). 

London  Times:  Sept.  12,  1912,  Lit.  Sup.,  page  358  (Review 
of  Thornton). 


340  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Longman's  Magazine:  1.80  ("Some  points  in  American 
Speech,"  by  E.  A.  Freeman). 

Month:  94.63  (Says:  "No  one  could  possibly  take  Mr.  Henry 
James  or  Mr.  Howells  for  an  Englishman.") 

Nineteenth  Century,  September,  1880.  ("English,  Ra- 
tional and  Irrational,"  by  Fitzedward  Hall.) 

Pall  Mall  Magazine:  19.188  ("The  American  Language," 
by  William  Archer.     Very  interesting  and  sensible). 

Penny  Magazine:  July  21,  1838,  p.  278.  (Severe  on  Ameri- 
can speech.) 

Quarterly  Review:     10.528. 

Saturday  Review:  60.709  (Review  of  "Political  American- 
isms" in  Mag.  of  Am.  Hist.);  62.142;  62.190;  78.321. 

Spectator:  62.493  (Review  of  Farmer). 

Tinsley's  Magazine:  29.330  (by  Albany  de  Fonblanque — 
hot  denunciation  of  American  speech). 

Westminster  Gazette:  July  18,  1913  ("Ought  American  to 
be  taught  in  our  Schools?"). 

Westminster  Review:  130.35  (No  dialects  in  United  States) ; 
No.  234,  October,  1882,  p.  279,  Scott  edition  (Admits 
that  the  English  call  now  "nao."). 

IV 

ARTICLES  IN  AMERICAN  PERIODICALS 

Analectic  Magazine:  3.404.  (Sarcastic  [?]  defense  of 
American  freedom  of  speech;  recommends  invention  of  a 
new  language.) 

Appletons'  Journal:  (N.  S.)  11.315.  ("English  and 
American-English,"  by  Richard  A.  Proctor,  from  Gentle- 
man's Magazine). 

Arena:  20.537. 

Atlantic  Monthly:  6.667;  40.233;  41.495   (R.  G.  White, 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  34I 

Review  of  Bartlett) ;  41.656  (do.);  42.97  (do.);  42.342 
(do.);  42.619  (do.);  42.643  (Reply  to  White);  43.88 
(White  on  Bartlett);  43.109  (freight  train  and  spool); 
43.379  (White  on  Bartlett) ;  43.656  (do.);  44.654  (White, 
"Assorted  Americanisms") ;  45.428  (Reply  to  White) ; 
45.669  (White,  "British  Americanisms");  47.697  (White, 
supplementary  to  Bartlett  articles);  48.849;  52.792; 
53.286;  53.290;  55.593  (R.  A.  Proctor,  "The  Misused  H 
of  England");  55.856  (right  away);  76.708;  104.135 
(dialects);  115.360  (concludes  that  "we  [Americans]  have 
an  unquestionable  right  to  the  pronunciation  natural  to 
ourselves"). 

Bookman:  5.96;  11.446  (survivals  of  old  pronunciations); 
12.243  (do.);  26.533  (Whibley) ;  26.586  (satire  on  Whib- 
ley) ;  27.63  (reply  to  Whibley — calls  him  "careless  and 
peevish"). 

BiTrrALO  Commercial  Advertiser:  Sept.  10-11,  1888. 
(Article  on  pronunciation,  from  Critic.) 

Century:  47 (25). 848  ("Wild  Flowers  of  English  Speech  in 
America,"  by  Edward  Eggleston) ;  48 (26). 867  ("Folk 
Speech  in  America,"  by  Edward  Eggleston). 

Chautauquan:  22.436   (American  dialects). 

Chicago  News,  March  10,  1890  (London  letter  from  Eugene 
Field). 

Cosmopolitan:  30.274  (by  Brander  Matthews,  chatty  and  gen- 
eral but  sensible  and  interesting). 

Critic:  13.97,  104,  115,  263;  36.81. 

Current  Literature:  35.492. 

Dial:  14.233;  33.29;  48.40;  54.380;  95.11  (review  of  Thorn- 
ton). 

Dialect  Notes:  1.428  ("British  vs.  American  English"  from 
the  British  point  of  view).  Notes  on  American  provin- 
cialisms appear  in  every  issue  of  Dialect  Notes,  and  it 
would  therefore  be  useless  to  list  them  here. 


342  AMERICAN      ENGLISH 

Eclectic  Magazine:  132.60  (by  William  Archer). 

Education:  13.367. 

English  Journal:  2.266;  6.1.  ("The  Standard  of  American 
Speech,"  by  Prof.  F.  N.  Scott.) 

Forum:  2.117.      ("Americanisms  in  England,"  by  A.  C.  Coxe.) 

Galaxy:  21.521  (White,  Pronunciation);  24.376  (White  on 
Bartlett);  24.681   (do.). 

Harper's  Bazar:  30.958  (by  T.  \\.  Higginson). 

Harper's  Monthly:  66.665  (Sussex  Expressions);  83.215 
(Brander  Matthews,  "Briticisms  and  Americanisms"); 
85.277  (Matthews,  American  spelling);  90.252  (H.  C. 
Lodge,  Shakespeare's  Americanisms);  126.417;  126.618; 
127.133;  127.274;  127.586  (last  five  by  T.  R.  Louns- 
bury) ;  129.103;  131.436  (Kentucky  mountain  provin- 
cialisms) ;  140.846  (Plea  for  disregarding  British  usage 
when  it  differs  from  American). 

Harper's  Weekly:  39.1037  (W.  D.  Howells) ;  54.6;  56.25; 
59.105. 

Home  Journal:  Oct.  25,  1899. 

Hours  at  Home:  5.361  (Review  of  "Queen's  English,"  by 
F.  W.  Shelton). 

Independent:  52.410;  53.2706;  65.765;  67.477. 

International  Review:  8.472  ("English  Language  in  Amer- 
ica," by  Lounsbury;  8.596  (do.). 

Journal  or  Education:  84.41  (pronunciation). 

Ladies'  Home  Journal:  20.46  ("American  brogue"). 

Lakeside  Monthly:  3.154. 

Lite:  74.47   (Bright  satire,  worth  reading). 

Lippincott's  Magazine:  3.310  (Provincialisms);  4.345; 
5.545;  19.513;  31.378  (Review  of  Freeman  in  Long- 
man's); 44.121   (mugwump). 

Literary  Digest:  46.1386;  47.212;  50.1468;  50.830;  53.708; 
53.848. 


bibliography  343 

Literary  World:  14.364. 

(Littell's)  Living  Age:  20.79  (Review  of  Bartlett,  from 
Boston  Advertiser) ;  95.218  ("Inroads  upon  English,"  from 
Blackwood,  as  above) ;  100.636  (Review  of  Zincke's  "Last 
Winter  in  the  United  States,"  from  Spectator);  114.446; 
120.240  ("United  States  English,"  from  Chambers'  Jour- 
nal); 132.821  (from  Leisure  Hour) ;  155.483  (Freeman's 
Longmans'  article);  179.298  (The  Great  American  Lan- 
guage, from  Cornhill  Magazine);  204.438  ("All  the  Year 
Round"  article);  219.514;  251.654;  254.123. 

M'Clure's  Magazine:  47.87. 

Magazine  of  American  History:  12.564  (C.  L.  Norton, 
Political  Americanisms) ;  13.98  (do.);  13.199  (do.);  13.- 
295  (do.);  13.394  (do.);  13.495  (do.);  13.599  (com- 
ments on  foregoing). 

Modern  Philology:  6.53. 

Munsey's  Magazine:  40.345*  (Brander  Matthews;  notes 
formation  of  "American  Language  League"  to  change 
name  of  our  speech  to  "American"). 

Nation:  5.428;  6.392;  11.56  (Pennsylvania  provincialisms); 
11.72  (do.);  14.28  (Savage  Review  of  De  Vere) ;  14.45 
(Review  of  Hoosier  Schoolmaster);  16.148  (North  Caro- 
lina provincialisms);  16.183  (do.);  17.113  (Words  from 
Indian  languages);  18.380  (Review  of  Barringer) ;  21.8 
(Penn.  pro.);  26.171  (Review  of  Bartlett);  26.243  (Re- 
view of  Bartlett);  32.184  (blizzard);  32.208  (do.); 
32.220  (do.);  32.260  (do.);  49.15  (Review  of  Farmer); 
57.484;  84.28;  95.11  (Review  of  Thornton);  108.698 
(Review  of  Mencken). 

National  Quarterly  Review:  2.230  (Review  of  Pickering 
and  Bartlett). 

New  England  Magazine:  6.583  (shows  New  England  pro- 
vincialisms to  be  old  English);   15.337. 


344  american    english 

New  Englander:  (N.S.)  3.429. 

New  York  Evening  Post:  April  12,  1919  (Review  of 
Mencken). 

New  York  Tribune:  Aug.  14,  1881  (Proctor);  May  17, 
1884  (G.  W.  Sraalley  on  Sala  on  Tucker);  Sept.  29, 
1894  (Smalley). 

North  American  Review:  3.355  (Review  of  Pickering); 
69.94  (Review  of  Bartlett) ;  91.507  (Review  of  Marsh's 
Lectures);  136.55  (Tucker,  American  English);  141.431 
("Slang  in  America,"  by  Walt  Whitman);  146.709  (lag- 
niappe  and  brottus) ;  147.102  (brottus) ;  147.348  (brot- 
tus,  buckra,  goober) ;  147.475  (lagniappe  and  brottus) ; 
207.91  (general  review  of  the  subject,  concluding  that 
"the  day  may  easily  come  when  an  American  may  find 
himself  unable  to  make  himself  understood  in  England, 
and  the  same  with  an  Englishman  in  America");  209.697 
(Review  of  Mencken;  calls  it  "the  book  of  the  month"). 

Outlook:  72.397;  89.236;  91.17;  96.632  ("Yankee  in  British 
Fiction,"  absurdities  of  his  speech). 

Popular  Science  Monthly:  32.387;  69.324. 

Putnam's  Monthly:  16.519. 

Rural  New  Yorker:  49.231  (North  Carolina  Provincial- 
isms). 

San  Francisco  Newsletter:  Vol.  49,  No.  25  (Pronuncia- 
tion). 

School  Review :23. 381  (British  and  American  Pronunciation 
— thoughtful  and  interesting). 

Scribner's  Magazine:  29.360  (Brander  Matthews);  41.653 
(H.  C.  Lodge);  45.378;  68.621  (Brander  Matthews). 

Scribner's  Monthly:  3.379  (Review  of  De  Vere). 

Southern  Literary  Messenger:  2.110;  14.623  (Review  of 
Bartlett) . 

Southern  Methodist  Quarterly:  N.  S.,  9.248  (valuable 
article). 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  345 

Southern  Review:  N.  S.,  9.290  and  9.529  (Review  of  Bart- 
lett's  and  Webster's  dictionaries,  severe  on  American  Eng- 
lish). 
For  other  references,  arranged  on  a  different  plan  from  that 
followed  in  the  foregoing  list,  and  including  matter  not  strictly 
germane  to  the  purposes  of  this  book,  see  Mencken,  p.  323, 
and  also  Dialect  Notes,   1.13,  80,  254  and  344,  and  2.151. 
The  list  in  the  initial  number  of  Dialect  Notes,  and  placed  at 
the  beginning  of  that  issue,  was  intended  as  a  supplement  to 
the  first  bibliography  of  Americanisms  ever  compiled,  which 
was  that   appended   by   the   present   writer   to   his   paper   on 
"American  English,"  Albany  Institute  Transactions,  Vol.   10, 
p.  358. 


INDEX 


abergoins,  228 

aboard    (a    land   vehicle),   228 

abolitiondom,  228 

abolitionist,    228 

abolitionize,    228 

aboriginal,  228 

above   one's   bend,   228 

above  snakes,  228 

abrasive,   228 

abskize,    228 

absquatulate,   228 

abutter,  228 

according  to   Gimter,   73 

account,    73 

accountability,    74 

accumulative,  229 

acknowledge  the  corn,  228 

across   lots,   228 

acruffs,  229 

acting,    74 

addressee,   74 

admire,   74 

adobes,  229 

adulterer,    74 

adventism,  229 

affiliate,    75 

affiliations,  229 

Africanize,   229 

after,  229 

afternight,  75 

agaze,  229 

age,  229 

agee,  75 

ague   mispronounced,   229 

aim,   75 

aint,    225 

air-line,  229 

airy,   75 

alarmist,   75 

Albany    beef,   229,   320 

Albany  hemp,   229 

Albany   regency,   229 

alcoholism,   75 


alewife,  229 

Algerine,   229 

Algic,  229 

alienage,    75 

alienism,   229 

alkali  desert,  229 

all  any  more,   229 

all-a-setting,    229 

all-day,   229 

all-fired,    75 

all-hollow,  229 

all-possessed,  229 

all  sorts,   all  sorts   of,  229 

all  the  go,  all  the  rage,   229 

all  the  time,  229 

all  two,  230 

alley,    76 

alligator,  76 

allot  upon,  230 

allottee,   229 

allow,  25,   76,  230 

allspice,    76 

almond,  32 

almshouse,   76 

along,    76 

alter,   230 

alumnus,    76 

ambia,  230 

ambition,  230 

ambitious,  230 

ambuscade,  230 

amen  corner,  320 

amenability,    77 

Americanism,   Americanize,  230 

among,  230 

among    the    missing,    230 

ampersand,   77 

annunciator,    77 

and  the  rise,  230 

angel,  230 

angeliferous,   230 

angle  worm,  230 

animule,    230 


347 


348 


INDEX 


anog,   230 

antagonize,   77,  221,   223 
ante,    230 
antehumous,    230 
anti-bank,    230 
anti-federalist,   230 
antifogmatic,    230 
anti-masonry,   230 
anti-negro,    231 
anti-rentism,  231 
anti-slavery,  231 
anti-southern,  231 
anti-union,   231 
any,  77 

anything  else,   231 
antony  over,   231 
anxious  meeting,  231 
anxious  seat,  231 
apartment,    231 
apishamore,  231 
appellate,    77 
appetitical,  231 
apple  brandy,  231 
apple   butter,   231 
applecart,  78 
apple  leather,  231 
apple  peeling,  231 
apple    toddy,    231 
appointable,   78 
appreciate,   appreciation, 
Arab,   231 
arctics,   231,   320 
argufy,   78 

Arkansas  toothpick,  231 
armory,   231 
arm-shop,   231 
around,  232 
arrow,    232 
arter,    232 
ary,  232 

as   good   as,    232 
as  long  as,  232 
ascotch,  232 
ash  cake,  232 
ashlanders,    232 
assemblyman,   232 
assininity,    78 
assign,    78 
associational,  232 
associationist,  232 
asterism,  232 


231 


at    (verb),   232 

at  auction,   232 

at    (after  where),   78 

at   the  north   or   south,   232 

at  that,  232 

a-tremble,   78 

attitudinize,  79 

attleborough,  232 

authoress,   79 

available,    availability,    232 

avails,    79 

avalanche,  233 

ax  to  grind,  321 

babes,  233 
back,  233 

back  and  forth,   79 
back  country,   233 
back  down,  233,  321 
back  furrow,  233 
back  log,  233 
back  out,   79 
back    setting,    233 
back  talk,  233 
back    track,    233 
backward,   79 
back  water,  233 
backwoods,   233 
bad,    79 

baggage,   71,   79 
bail,  80 
bait,   233 
baiting,   80 
baker,   233 
bake-shop,  233 
balance,  233 
bald-face,  233 
balk,    80 
ball    up,    233 
ballyhack,  234 
ballyrag,    234 
bam,  80 
banana,    81 
bang,   234 
bang-up,   81 
bango,  234 
banjo,   81 
banker,  234 
bank  sneak,  234 
banquette,    60,   81 
banter,  234 


INDEX 


349 


barbecue,  81 

barberize,    234 

barn,    234 

barrack,  234 

barracoon,  234 

barriclade,  234 

barrens,  82,  287 

bartender,   barkeeper,   234 

baseball,    82,    322 

basilar,   82 

bat,  82,  234 

bayou,  234 

beach-comber,  234 

bead,   234 

beadles,   322 

bear,  82 

beard,  82 

beast,  44 

beat,  dead  beat,  105,  234 

beat  out,   234 

beau,  82 

beaver-dam,  83 

bedrock,   83 

bedspread,  234 

bee,   235 

bee  gum,  235 

beef,  83 

beef-heads,   322 

behindments,  235 

being,  83 

beliked,  83 

belittle,   235 

bell  hop,  235 

belongings,   83 

belt,   235 

bender,    83 

bent,  235 

best,  84 

bestowment,   235 

betty,   235 

biddy,  84 

biff,  235 

big,    235 

biggity,    235 

big-head,    235 

bilberry,    84 

bile,  84 

biling,   84 

bilk,  84 

billion,  235 

billy,  84 


bindweed,   84 
bindery,  235 
bishop,  235 
bislings,  235 
bit,   235 
blackberry,  84 
blackleg,   85 
blacklist,   85 
blacksnake,  236 
blacky,  85 
blamed,  236 
blank    please,    322 
blankety,    236 
blatancy,   85 
blatherskite,  236 
blatt,  236 
blaze,   236 
bleachers,   236 
blickey,    236 
blind,  236 
blinders,  236 
blizzard,    236 
bloated,   236 
block,  236 
blood    tubs,    236 
Bloomer  costume,  236 
blotter,    85 
blow,  85 
blower,   236 
blowhard,   236 
blowout,   85 
blow  up,   236 
bluebacks,    236 
blue-blood,   85 
blue-book,   86 
blue-fish,    86 
blue-grass,    323 
bluelights,  236 
blue-noses,  323 
blue-pig,  323 
blue  pill,   236 
bluff,  86,  237 
blummechies,    237 
blummies,   237 
blur-eyed,  86 
boatable,  237 
bob,  237 
bob  sled,  237 
bob  veal,  237 
bobolink,  323 
bockey,  237 


350 

bodaciously,  237 

body  bolt,  237 

bogus,    237 

bolt,  237 

bombo,   237 

bonanza,  237 

bone,   237 

bones,   86 

boneyard,   237 

boodle,  237 

boohoo,   86 

bookstore,   237 

boom,  237 

boost,  237 

boot,  237 

bootlick,  237 

borning-ground,  237 

bosom  of  a  shirt,  238 

boss,  238 

bothersome,   238 

bottom,   bottoms,  86 

bounce,   238 

bound,  86 

bounty  jumper,   238 

Bourbon,  238 

bower,  in  euchre,  238 

bowling-alley,   87 

box,    238 

box  car,  238 

box  coat,  238 

brace  up,  take  a  brace,  238 

brainy,  87 

branch    (brook),   238 

brave    (Indian  warrior),   238 

breadstuff,    238 

break,    238 

breakback,  238 

breakbone  fever,  238 

breakdown,  238 

bred  (impregnated),  238 

brick  in  the  hat,  238 

brickly,    87 

brief,    87 

bright,   87 

brill,    238 

bring  up,  87 

Briticism,  42,   239 

Britisher,  239 

broadhorn,    239 

brogues,  239 

broncho,  239 


INDEX 


broomstick,   323 

brotus,  brottus,  239 

broughtens  up,    239 

brown,  87 

bruiser,   87 

brummagem,  88 

brung,   239 

bub,  bubby,  239 

buccaneer,    239 

buck,   88,   239 

buckboard,  239 

bucket,  25,  239 

bucket   shop,   239 

buck   fever,  239 

buckle,  88 

buck  shot,   239 

buckskin,    239 

bucktails,  240 

buffalo,    buffalo   robe,   240 

bug,   88 

bugaboo,   88 

bulge,   to  get,  240 

bulger,  240 

bull   boat,  240 

bully,    89 

bulldoze,  240 

bull  plow,  240 

bull's  eye,  240 

bullwhacker,  240 

bum,  bummer,  240 

bumper,    240 

bun,   240 

bunch    (verb),    240 

bunco,    bunko,   240,   324 

buncombe,   240,   324 

bundle,   240 

bungay,   240 

bungo,    240 

Bungtown  copper,   240 

bunk,   89 

bunker,   240 

burdensome,  240 

bureau,    89 

burgall,  240 

burgle,   burglarize,   240 

burro,  89 

bushwhacker,  241 

bust,  89 

buster,  241 

butt,    241 

butte,  241 


INDEX 


351 


butter-fingered,  241 
butter ine,  241 
butternut,    241 
buzz,  buzzer,  89 
buzz  saw,   241 
by  and  again,  241 
by-and-large,   89 
by-bidder,  24 
by  sun,   241 


cable,  cablegram,  241 

caboodle,  241 

caboose,  90 

cache,  90 

cack,  241 

cade,  90 

cadeau,  90 

cahoot,   241 

calabash,  90 

calaboose,  90 

calash,   90 

calculate,  25,  91 

calibogus,   242 

callithumpian,  242 

call    (in    stock   market),    241 

call  down,  242 

calloused,  91 

campaign,  242 

camphene,  242 

campus,    242 

canaille,    242 

candidacy,  242 

candidate,   candidateship,  91 

candlelighting,   91 

canebrake,  242 

cane-rush,   242 

cannot,  can  only,  242 

canon,  242 

cantaloupe,   91 

cant-hook,  91 

Canuck,    242 

canvass,   92 

cap  all,  92 

capper,  242 

caption,  242 

car,  92 

carf,  92 

car-house,  242 

carman,    92 

carom,   93 


carpet  bagger,  243 

carriole,   243 

carry    (portage),   243 

carryall,   243 

carry  away,   93 

carrylog,   243 

carry   on,    93 

cast,   93 

case,    243 

casket    (coffin),   243 

cat    (in   fishing),  243 

catamount,  93 

catawampous,    catawamptious,    243 

cat   boat,   243 

catch,  93 

catch-all,  243 

catch  on,  243 

catechise,    94 

catfish,   94 

cat-haul,  243 

caucus,  243,  318 

caution,  94 

cave-in,   94 

Cavendish,  243 

cavort,  243 

celestial,  243 

cent,    243 

certain,  94 

chained   lightning,   94 

chance,    94 

chance    (quantity),   243 

chaparral,  244 

charade,   32 

charlotte,  charlotte-russe,  244 

check,   cheque,   35,   94,   244 

checkers,    244 

cheese,   95 

chemiloon,    244 

chess,    95 

chestnut,   244 

chin    (chatter),    244 

chince,  244 

chincli,  chinchbug,  chintz,  244 

Chink    (Chinaman),   244 

chip,    244 

chip  in,   244 

chipper,    95 

chipmunk,    244 

chippy,   244 

chirivari,   244 

chirk,  95 


352  INDEX 

chisel,   95 

chitlins,  244 

chock-full,   95 

chock   up,    244 

choke  off,  95 

choker,    96 

chompins,  244 

chop,  96 

chore,   96 

chuck-a-luck,   244 

chucklehead,  96 

chump,   324 

chunk,    68 

chunk,   chunky,   244 

churchism,    245 

churchmaul,  245 

chute,  96 

cider   oil,   245 

cimlin,  cymbling,  245,  251 

cinch,   245 

citified,  245 

citizenize,  245 

citron,   245 

civism,  96 

claggy,  245 

claim,  25,  245,  324 

clamshell,  245 

clamtrap,  245 

clapmatch,    clockmutch,   245 

classy,  245 

clatterments,   245 

clatterwhacking,  245 

clawhammer,  245 

clear,   245 

clear  grit,  245 

clearing,    245 

clearing-house,   96 

clear  out,  246 

clevel,   96 

clever,  97 

clevis,   97 

climb   down,   97 

clingstone,  246 

clingjohn,   246 

clinker-built,  97 

close  out,   246 

cloud,  97 

cloudburst,  246 

clove   (valley),   246 

coach,    97 

coachwhip,  97 


coast    (down   hill),    246 
coatee,   246 
cob,   246 
cobbler,    246 
cockarouse,   246 
cocktail,  246 
cocky,  98 
C.  O.  D.,  246 
codding,   246 
co-ed,   246 
coffin  boat,  246 
cohees,   246 
cold  slaw,  246 
cold  sore,  246 
collapsity,    246 
collar,   98 
collards,   246 
collarette,  98 
collateral,   98 
collect,   246 
colored,  247 
combine,   98 
come  down,  247 
come  in,  247 
come  out,  99 
come  over,  99 
commander,   99 
commencement,  99 
commons,  99 
commune,   99 
commutation,  221 
compare,  99 

compassive,  247 

complected,  247 

compliment,  247 

compromit,   99 

compus,    247 

comstockism,    325 

concededly,   247 

concerned,  247 

conductor    (of   train),   247 

confectioner,    99 

confectionery,    247 

Confederate,  247 

conferrees,  247 

confidence  man,   247 

confidence   queen,   325 

congressional,    247 

congressman,  247 

coniacker,   koniacker,   247 

conk,   247 


INDEX 


353 


connection,    100 
conniption,   247 
connubiate,   247 
consequentious,    100 
considerable,  247 
consociate,    consociation, 
constitutionality,  100 
contemplate,  100 
contestee,   247 
continuance,    100 
contraband,  247 
contraption,   100 
contrive,    100 
convene,   248 
coodies,  248 
cook,   100 
cookey,   101 
cooler,    248 
coolly,  coulee,  248 
coon,  248 
copperhead,  248 
copse,     101 
cordelle,    248 
corduroy  road,  248 
corked,    101 
corn    (maize),   248 
cornjuice,  248 
corn  trash,  248 
corned    (drunk),    335 
corner  in  market,  249 
corporosity,   249 
corral,   249 
cotch,    249 
councilmanic,   249 
count,   101,  249 
counter  jumper,    101 
country   Jake,   249 
county  house,  249 
couple,   249 
cove,    101 

cover  short  sale,  249 
coverlid,   101 
cowcatcher,  249 
cow^hide?  101 
cowlick,   249 
cowskin,  249 
crab,   249 
crab  lantern,  249 
crab   schooner,   249 
crack,   cracksman,   102 
crackajack,  249 


cracker,  102,  249,  325 
cracklings,  249 
crack    loo,    249 
crack    on,    249 
cradle-scythe,  102 
100  cram,    102 

crank,   249 
cranky,    102 
craps,  249 
crawfish,  249 
crawm,   250 
crazybone,  250 
creamer,   creamery,   250 
creeper,    102 
crease,  250 
creek,  250 
Creole,  250,   325 
crevasse,  102 
crib,   103 
crisscross,  103 
crook,    250 
crookneck,  250 
cropper,    250 
cross   timber,   250 
crotch,   250 
crotchikal,  250 
crowd,  250 
crower,  250 
cruel,   103 
cruller,  250 
crush,    103,    250 
cry,    250 
C.   S.,   324 
cuffy,  250 
cultivate,  104 
cull,  103 
cunning,    104 
curios,   250 
curious,    104 
cuspidor,   250 
cuss,    104 
cussedness,   250 
cussword,  251 
customable,   104 
customer,    104 
custom-made,   251 
cut   (in  college),   251 
cut  and  dried,  251 
cut  a  splurge,   251 
cut  capers,  cut  didoes,  251 
cut  dirt,  251 


354 

cut-off,   251 
cut   round,   251 
cut-tliroat,  325 
cut   under,   251 
cuteness,    104 
cutter,    251 
cut-up,    105 
cymbling,  245,  251 

daddock,    105 

daddy  longlegs,   105 

daisy,    dandy,    251 

dampen,    326 

dandified,    105 

dare   for  may,   251 

darky,  251 

darnation,    105 

daydown,   251 

deacon,   251 

dead,    105 

dead  beat,  105,  234 

dead  broke,  251 

deaden,    251 

deadhead,    251 

dead   rabbits,    252 

dead  set,  105 

deal,   106 

decedent,   252 

declension,    declination,    252 

dehorn,    252 

demean,  106 

demonstrate,  106 

demote,  252 

dengue,    252 

depot,     106 

derail,    106 

derrick,   106 

desk,   106 

desperate,    252 

despisement,  106 

detail,    107 

detrain,    107 

dewberry,   107 

dicker,  252 

did    not   have,    107 

difference,  108 

difficulted,    108 

dig,   108,   252 

digging,    108 

dime,   108 

dime    museum,    326 


INDEX 


ding,   dinged,  252 

dingbats,   252 

dingee,   dinky,   108 

dingle,  252 

dingling,    109 

dip,  252 

dipper,    109,    252 

dipsy,    109 

dippy,  252 

directly,    21 

dirt,   252 

dirt    road,    327 

disfellowship,    109 

disgruntled,   109 

disguised,    109 

dish  gravy,  252 

disremember,    109 

disunionist,    109 

dite,    110 

ditty  bag,  252 

dive,  252 

divide,  252 

divort,    110 

dizzy,    252 

dobber,  252 

dock    (pier),    252 

docket,   253 

dockwalloper,   253 

doctor,    253 

dod  rot   it,   253 

dodger,    253 

dog,   110,  253 

doggery,   253 

doings,  253 

doless,    110 

dolittle,   110 

do  me,  253 

donate,  253 

donation,    110 

done   with   past  participle,   253 

donock,    dornick,   253 

do-nothing,     110 

doodlebug,  253 

doom   (tax),  253 

dory,   110 

doted,    110 

double.   111 

double    house,    253 

double-jaded,   253 

double  ripper,  253 

dough,   dough  head,   253 


INDEX 


355 


doughface,   111 

doughnut,   111,  327 

dove,   dived,    111 

down.   111 

down  country,  253 

down  upon.   111 

dozy,   253 

drat    it.    111 

draw   (part  of  bridge),  253 

draw   a   bead,   253 

dressing,   112 

dress-suit   case,   254 

drink,  254 

drive,  driver,  112 

driveway,   254 

driving   park,   254 

droger,    112 

drop,   drop  letter,   drop   light,  254 

drudge,   254 

drugstore,  254 

drummer,    112 

drvmk,    112 

dry,  254 

dry  goods,  254 

dry  up,   254 

dubersome,    112 

dude,   254 

dumb   betty,   254 

dumbwaiter,    254 

dummy,    112 

dump,  254 

dumpage,  254 

dumpy,   113 

dimiish,  254 

dungaree,  254 

dunky,    254 

durned,   254 

dust,   113 

duster    (garment),    255 

dutchman,  255 

dutiable,    113 

ear  bob,  113 

earhoop,   earlock,   eartab,   255 

east,   about,   255 

eat,    255 

ebenezer,   255 

edibles,    113 

editorial,   255 

educational,    113 

eel  spear,  113 


egg  on,    114 
eighteen-carat,   327 
elect   to,    114 
electioneering,    114 
electricute,    255 
ell,  255 
empt,    114 
engage,  114 
engine,  224 
engineer,   114 
enjoy    bad    health,    114 
enthuse,    255 
en  weave,    114 
episcopize,   255 
erupt,   115 
escopette,   255 
esquire,    115 
European  plan,  255 
evener,   255 
evening,  25,  255 
eventuate,  255 
everglades,  255 
every  which  way,  256 
evincive,  256 
exchangeability,  256 
exchanges,  256 
excur,   318 
excursionist,    256 
executive,   256 
exercises,  256 
exflunct,   256 
expect,   25,   43,    115 
exposition,    116 
express,   256 

faculate,    256 

fair,    116,    256 

fair  and  square,    116 

fake,    116 

faker,    256 

fall    (a  tree),   116 

fall    (season),   318 

falling  weather,  256 

fallway,  256 

family,  116 

fan   (baseball),  256 

fandango,   116 

fantail   (steamer),  256 

farina,    117 

fatwood,  256 

fay  in,  117 


356 


INDEX 


faze,  256 

fearful,  117 

feast    (fastidious),   257 

feather   (said  of  cream),  257 

feature,  257 

federal,   federalize,    117 

federalist,  257 

feed,    117 

feel  like,  257 

feel    to    do,    118 

fellowship,   118 

fen,  118 

fence   (of  wood),   118 

fence    (receiver    of   stolen    goods), 

119 
fetch    (a   scream),   257 
fetching,    257 
fetch   up,   257 
fetterlock,   257 
few,   a  little,   119 
F.  F.  v.,  257 
fiat  money,  257 
fid,   119 

ficndishment,   257 
file   (cloth),  257 
filibuster,   119 
fill    (embankment),    257 
fillipeen,  philopena,  257 
fills,    119 
find,   119 
findings,  257 
finefied,   119 
fip,  fippeny,  119 
fire,   fire  out,   120 
fire  away,  257 
fire-bug,   fire-himt,   257 
firedogs,   120 
fire-eater,   120 
fire-hook,  120 
fire-wood,   120 
first-class,    first-rate,    120 
fish  story,  257 
fishy,    120 
fist,  257 
fit,  fought,  121 
fix,    121 
fix  up,   257 
fixings,   257 
fizzle,   257 
flat,  258 
flakes.    121 


flapdoodle,    121 

flare,    121 

flashboard,    121 

flash  in  pan,    122 

flat,  122 

flat-boat,    122 

flat-broke,  258 

flat  out,  258 

flatfooted,  258 

flats,  258 

fleabane,  122 

fleabitten,   258 

flip,   122 

float,  floats,  258 

floater,  258 

floodwood,  258 

floor,   258 

floorwalker,   258 

flowage,  258 

flubdub,    258 

flume,   258 

flunky,  258 

flush,    258 

flutterwheel,   258 

fly  (swamp),  258 

flyer,  258 

flyingfish,    122 

folks,  122 

foofoo,   258 

foot   (a  bill),  258 

foot  hill,   258 

footy,  123 

for,   in  honor  of,   123 

forehanded,    123 

forge  ahead,  123 

fork,  258 

fork  over,  fork  up,  259 

forwarding  merchant,  259 

fotch,   123 

fox,   repair,    123 

fox-fire,   123 

foxy,    123 

fracas,  32 

fraggle,  259 

frail,   259 

frame  house,  259 

frame-up,   259 

fraud,    124 

freak,  124,  327 

free  to  confess,   124 

freestone,  259 


INDEX 


337 


freeze,  freezer,  freeze  out,  259 

freight,  259 

French,   Frenchy,   Frenching,   259 

fresh,    124 

froe,    124 

frog,   259 

frolic,   124 

front    name,    259 

frosted,  259 

frowchey,   259 

fudge,  259 

fugelman,   124 

full   chisel,   259 

fundum,  260 

funeral,   125 

funk,   125 

furore,   260 

fyke,  260 

gabblement,   125 

gale,  260 

gall,  260 

gallinipper,    125 

gallus,    125 

galoot,    125 

galumph,   125 

gam,   260 

gander   party,    260 

gange,    126 

gang-saw,   260 

gangster,  260 

ganty,  260 

gar,  260 

garden  truck,  260 

garmenture,   126 

garnishee,  126 

garrison,    126 

gat,  gate,   126 

gather    (a   single   object),    126 

gaimted,   126 

gavel,   260 

gawnicus,   260 

G.  B.,  327 

gear  up,  260 

gee,    127 

gent,   127 

Gentile,  260 

German,  26 

gerrymander,   260 

get,  offspring,   127 

get  off,  260 


get  round,  260 

get  the  mitten,  261,  278 

get  there,  261 

gibe,    jibe,    261 

giggit,  261 

gimbal,  261 

gin  mill,   261 

gingersnap,  261 

girt,  261 

girdle    (tree),    127 

gism,  261 

git,   261 

give  away,  261,  326 

give  out,    127 

givy,   261 

glare,  261 

glimpse,   127 

globe-trotter,    127 

glorify,   127 

go    (of   it),    261 

go-ahead,   127 

go  back  on,   261 

go  by,  261 

go-cart,    128 

go  for,  go  in  for,  261 

go    it,    128 

go  off,  261 

go    through,    261 

go  to  grass,    128 

go-to-meeting,    129 

go  to  the  bad,   129 

go  under,   go   up,   262 

goatee,  261 

gobbler,   261 

gobble  up,  261 

going,    128 

goldenrod,   128 

golly,  262 

gombo,  gumbo,  262 

gone  case,  coon,  gander,  goose,  262 

goneness,    262 

goner,  262 

gone  with,   128  ' 

gonus,    262 

goober,    128 

goody,    129 

goose,  goose  egg,  262 

G.  O.  P.,  262 

gopher,   262 

gosh,    129 

gossamer,  262 


358 


INDEX 


gospel  lot,  262 

got,  gotten,  46,  129 

Gotham,   262 

gouge,   262 

gouging,    130 

governmental,    130 

grab   bag,    grab   box,   262 

gracious,    262 

grade,  130,  262,  263 

graft,  263 

grain,    130 

grandacious,  grandiferous,  263 

granger,    263 

grarmified,    263 

granny,    263 

grant,  with  infinitive,   130 

grass,    130 

grass  widow,   130 

gravel,   130 

graveyard,    131 

gravy,    263 

grayback,  263 

greaser,    263 

greasewood,  263 

great  big,   131 

Greek,   131 

green,    131 

greenback,   greenbacker,  263 

green  goods,  263 

greening,    131 

greens,  131 

griffin,  griffe,  263 

grind,    131 

grip,  gripsack,  263 

grist,   263 

grit  the  teeth,  131 

gritting,   263 

gritty,  263 

grocery,    263 

groceries,    132 

groggery,    263 

grog  shop,  264 

ground  bridge,   264 

ground  hog,   264 

ground  nut,  264 

ground  pea,  264 

ground  sluicing,  264 

group   meeting,   264 

grouty,  264 

growler,   264 

grub  stake,  264 


grunter,    132 

guano,  264 

guava,    264 

gubernatorial,   264 

guess,    71,   132 

guff,   264 

guider,  264 

guinea  keet,  264 

gulch,   264 

gully,    133 

gum,    gummy,    134,   264 

gum    a    saw,    264 

gumbo,   264 

gum    game,    264 

gump,   134 

gumptious,   134 

gums,  264 

gun,  265 

gunning,    134,  265 

gunstick,    134 

gurry,   265 

gush,  265 

gusher,  265 

guttersnipe,  134 

guy,  265 

hackberry,   135 
hackmatack,   265 
had  have,  135 
hail    from,   265 
hake,  135 
half-baked,   135 
halfbreed,   265 
half-faced  camp,  265 
half  jo,   265 
half  widow,  265 
hamfatter,    265 
hammock,   135 
hand,   135 
hand  dog,  265 
handglasses,   265 
handle,   265 
handshake,    135 
handwrite,  265 
hang,  hang  out,   135 
hang  of  a  thing,  265 
hang-bird,    265 
hang  roimd,  266 
hang  up,  266 
hannahill,   266 
hant,   266 


INDEX 


359 


happen  in,    136 

happify,  136 

hard  case,  266 

hard  cider,  266 

hard  coal,  266 

hardhack,  266 

hardhead,  136 

hard  money,  266 

hardpan,  266 

hardshell,   266 

hardtack,   266 

hardwood,    136 

harm    (adjective),    266 

harness  cask,  136 

harsel   stuff,   266 

hasty  pudding,   136 

haul,    136 

hawhaw,    137 

hay  barrack,  266 

hayseed,   266 

hay  tedder,  137 

haze,   137 

head  off,  266 

headcheese,   266 

headrights,    266 

headstall,  137 

heap,   137 

hear  to,  266 

heeled,   267 

heeler,   267 

heave,   137 

heavy,   138 

heir    (verb),   267 

hellbender,  267 

hellbox,  267 

hellion,  267 

hen-hussy,   267 

hen  party,  267 

herd's  grass,  267 

Hessian,   Hessian  fly,  267 

het,    138 

hetchel,    138 

hewgag,  267 

hickory,  hickory  shirt,  267 

hide   and   coop,   267 

hifer,   267 

highbinder,  267 

highbrow,   267 

highfalutin,  267 

high    muck-a-muck,    267 

high-studded,  267 


high-toned,   267 
highwines,    267 
hike,   267 
hindsight,  267 
hire,    138 
hitch,    138 
hitch  up,  268 
hither  and  yon,  268 
hobble,     138 
hobo,    138 
hock,   268 
hockey   stick,    138 
hod  carrier,   139 
hoecake,  268 
hog  age,  268 
hogbacks,    139 
hogfish,  139 
hog  mane,  268 
hog  minder,  268 
hog  plum,  139 
hogwallow,   268 
hold  on,  268 
hold  over,   268 
hold  up,  268 
homely,   139 
homespun,    139 
hominy,    139 
honey f ogle,    268 
hoodlum,    268 
hoodoo,    268 
hook,  268 
hookey,  268 

hoople,    268 

Hoosier,   268 

hooter,  268 

hoppercar,  268 

hopping   mad,    139 

hoptoad,  268 

horn,  a  drink,  139 

horn,  "  in  a  horn,"   140 

hornswoggle,    268 

horrors,    140 

horsecar,  268 

horse  colt,   140 

horse  meat,   140 

horse   railroad,   269 

horse  sense,  269 

hose,   140 

hostler,  33 

hot  slaw,  269 

hound,   140 


36o 


INDEX 


hounds,  140 

house    (in  compounds),   140 

housekeep,   269 

how,    141 

howdy,  269 

hubbies,    269 

huckleberry,   269 

huckleberry   above  persimmon,    141 

huckster,  269 

huggermugger,    141 

hulking,   141 

hull,    hulls,    141 

huly,    269 

human,   141 

humanitarian,   141 

hummock,   142 

hump    (one's  self),  269 

hung,  142 

hunkers,  142 

hunk,   142,  269 

hunkidory,    269 

hurra's  nest,  269 

hurricane,    142 

hurricane  deck,  269 

hurryment,  269 

hush  up,   142 

husking,  269 

husky,  269 

hustle,   269 

hustler,   327 

hyper,    269 

hypo,    142 

hyst,   269 

ice-cream,   142 
I   dad,   269 
idea,  269 
ill,    143 
illy,  143 

immediately,  21,  59 
immense,    143 
improve   (land),  143 
in   (for  into),   143 
in    (noun),    143 
in   our   midst,    143 
inaugural,   270 
inaugurate,   270 
inclined   to,    270 
indebtedness,    143 
Indian   corn,   270 
Indian  file,  270 


Indian    giver,    270 

Indian  summer,  270 

indiscipline,  270 

infair,    144 

inflationist,  270 

informatory,    270 

infract,   270 

in   interest,   270 

injunct,  270 

inside  of,  270 

inside  track,  270 

institute,   270 

institution,    144 

insurrect,  144 

intervale,  270 

interview,   144 

interviewer,   270 

into   (with  some  figure),  270 

inty,    270 

inwardness,   144 

Irish  potato,  270 

ironweed,   144 

irreliability,    270 

irrupt,    144 

island,   145 

issuance,  270 

item,   145 

itemize,  itemizer,  271 

jab,  145 

jack  at  a  pinch,  145 

jackstones,  271 

jackstraws,  145 

jag,  271 

jail,  35 

jam  of  logs,  145 

jam  up,   271 

jamboree,   271 

jay,   145,   328 

jayhawker,   271 

jeans,    145 

jell,  271 

jeopardize,  146 

jerked    (meat),  271 

Jessie,   271 

jew,  jew  down,   146 

jibber,    146 

jibe,   271 

jig,   271 

jigamaree,    146 

jigger,  146,  271 


INDEX 


361 


jiggered,  271 
jigsaw,  271 
jimberjawed,   271 
Jim   Crow  cars,   271 
jimdandy,   271 
jimjams,   271 
jimmy,    146 
jimson,  271 
jitney,  271 
jobbing  house,  271 
jog,    146 
John,  272 
Johnny,   272 
johnnycake,  272 
joint,  272 
josey,   146 
josh,    272 
jounce,   146 
jour,  272 
joy  ride,  272 
juba,   272 
Judas  tree,  147 
judgmatical,   272 
judiciary,  147 
judy,   272 
jug,   147 

jump  a  claim,  147 
jump    bail,   272 
jumper,   272 
jumping-off  place,  272 
junk,    147 
jury-fixer,   272 

karimpton,  272 
katowse,  272 
katydid,  272 
kay,  key,  272 
keeler,   147 
keen  about,  272 
keener,   272 
keep    (shop),   147 
keeps,  272 
ker,  272 
kerosene,  272 
key,   148 
kiblings,  273 
kick,   148 
kicker,   273 
kid,   148 
kill,    273 
killdeer,  273 


kind  o',    148 

kindlers,   kindlings,   273 

kingbolt,  273 

kink,    148 

kinky,    273 

kinnikinnick,    killikinnick,    273 

kit,    148 

kitty  cornered,  273 

kiuse,  273 

knee,    148 

knickerbockers,    273 

knob,  148 

knock,    273 

knock  down,    148,  273 

knock-kneed,   149 

knowno things,   273 

konk,    273 

Ku   Klux  Klan,   273 

lagniappe,  273 
lagoon,    149 
lambaste,    149 
landscapist,   149 
landshark,    149 
landscrip,    273 
lapstreak,    273 
lariat,  273 
larrigan,  274 
lathy,    149 

latter-day  saints,  274 
lave,   274 
law  day,   149 
lawing,  150 
law  sakes,  274 
lay,   274 
lay  out,  274 
layering,  274 
laze,   274 
leader,   274 
leastways,    150 
leggins,   274 
lengthy,   274 
let  down,  274 
let  up,   274 
levee,    274 
levy,   25,   274 
lick,  licks,  274 
licketysplit,   274 
lie   low,   274 
lieutenant,  32 
light    bread,    274 


362 


INDEX 


lightning    bug,    275 

light  out,  275 

lightvvood,  274 

likely,   150 

lily  pad,  275 

limsy,   150 

line,  275 

liner,  275 

lines,  275 

list,    275 

live,   150 

live  oak,  275 

living  price,   living  wage,  275 

living-room,  275 

live  out,  275 

loaf    (idle),   275 

loafer,    275 

loan    office,    150 

lobby,  275 

lobby gow,  275 

loblolly,   275 

localize,   275 

locate,   150,  221 

lock  horns,   275 

loco,  275 

locofoco,  275 

locust,   275 

logger,   276 

loggerhead,    151 

logicize,   151 

logics,    276 

log-rolling,    276 

logy,    276 

long  of  a  stock,  276 

longshoreman,  276 

longshort,   276 

long  sugar,  long  sweetening,  276 

loon,   276 

looseness,  276 

lop   down,    276 

lost    cause,    276 

lot    (of   land),   276 

lots,  276 

low   down,  276 

low  flung,  276 

lucifer   match,    151 

lugs,   276 

lumber,    276 

lump  it,  276 

lunkhead,   276 

lyceum,  151 


lynch  law,   151 

ma'am   school,   276 

machine,  276 

mackinac,   277 

mad,    151 

madstone,   277 

maidenland,  277 

mail,   277 

maize,    277 

make,   make  out,   277 

make   good,    277 

make  time,  277 

make   tracks,   277 

make-up,    152 

mango,  277 

mammy,   277 

manor,    152 

mansard    roof,    152 

marabou,  277 

marooning,    277 

mary walkers,    277 

mash,   277 

masher,    277 

mass  meeting,  277 

match,  277 

materialize,    152 

maul,   277 

maverick,   277 

max,   277 

meadow,   152 

mean,  278 

medium,   278 

meeting,   meeting-house,    153 

mend  ("on  the  mend"),  153 

menhaden,   278 

merchandize,    153 

merchant,    153 

mesa,  278 

mess,    153 

mestizo,   278 

metheglin,    153 

metis,  278 

mick,  278 

middlings,  278 

midget,  278 

mileage,   278 

mill,   278 

mind,   278 

mink,  278 

minuteman,   278 


INDEX 


363 


miscegenation,   278 

misery,    153 

misrecollect,  153 

misremember,   154 

mission  school,   278 

missionate,  278 

misstep,   278 

mistake   ("and  no  mistake"),  154 

mitten,  to  get,  261,  278 

mixed   ticket,   278 

mobocracy,    154 

mock  auction,   279 

moke,   279 

molasses,    154 

Molly  Maguires,  279 

monitor,   279 

monkey,    279 

monkey    business,    monkey    shines, 

279 
monte,  279 
moondown,  279 
moonglade,   279 
moonrise,    154 
moonshine,    154 
mopboard,  279 
morphodite,   154 
mortal,    154 
mortician,   279 
Moses  boat,   279 
mosey,   279 
mossback,  279 
mossbunker,   279 
most,  155 
moth   miller,   279 
motte,  279 
mountain  lamb,  279 
mourner,   279 
mournsome,    155 
move,    155 
movie,    279 
mucker,  279 
muckraker,   279 
muddle,   155 
mud  hen,  279 
mud  hook,   280 
mudsill,    155 
mugwump,   280,   342 
mulatto,   155 
muley   saw,    280 
mumblepeg,   155 
mung   (news),   280 


miu-phy,  280 

mush,  280 

muskmelon,  155 

muskrat,  musquash,  280 

muss,  156 

mussy,   280 

mustang,   280 

muster   out,   280 

must  not,  must  only,  280 

muttonhead,  280 

mux,  156 

nabber,   156 

nail,   280 

naked    (possessor),   280 

nankeen,    156 

nary,  nary  red,  280 

national,  156 

natur',   225 

neck,   156,  280 

necktie  sociable,   280 

neckwear,   281 

ne'er,    156 

negative,  156 

neighborhood   of,    281 

nephew,   33 

nerve,   281 

netop,   281 

never  say  die,  157 

newsy,   157 

N.  G.,   281 

nice,   157 

nicely,  281 

nickel,    281 

nickel  plate,  328 

nifty,   281 

nig,   281 

nigger,  157 

niggerhead,   281 

nigger  heaven,  281 

nigger  off,  nigger  out,  281 

nigh  unto,  nigh  upon,  281 

nightkey,    281 

night    riders,   281 

nimshi,   281 

ninepence,  281 

nip,  nipper,  157 

nip  and  tuck,  281 

nippent,    281 

nipping,   158 

nobby,    158 


3^4 


INDEX 


nocake,   281 

noggin,    158 

nohow,    158 

non-committal,    281 

noodlehead,    281 

noodles,   158 

nooning,    158 

norther,  northerner,  282 

note,   282 

notify   a   person,    158 

notional,    159 

notionate,  282 

notions,    159 

nub,  282 

nutcake,  282 

nutmeg  melon,  282 

oak   barrens,   oak   openings,   282 
obligate,    159 
obligement,  159 
obtusity,   159 
occurrings,   282 
octoroon,  282 
of  after  gerund,   159 
of  after  verbs  of  sensation,   159 
off  the  reel,   282 
offal,   282 
office,   160 
offish,  282 
off    ox,    282 
offset,    282 
O.  K.,  282 
okra,    282 
Old  Glory,   282 
Old   Scratch,   282 
old   sledge,   282 
oleomargarine,    160 
olycook,  282 
omnibus    (bill),    282 
once   (as  soon  as),   160 
once  and  again,   160 
on  a  street,  282 
on  hand,  on  time,  283 
on  his  ear,  328 
on   his   feet,    328 
on   ice,  329 
oodles,    283 
operate,  160,  221 
-or,   -our    (terminal),   36 
opossum,  283 
opposed,   283 


orate,   160 

ordmary,    160 

organic  law,  283 

orphanage,    160 

orts,   160 

ou,  ow,  sounded  ao,  31,  340 

out,  161,  283 

outfit,  283 

outlawed,  283 

out  of  fix,  out  of  whack,  283 

outs,  283 

outside,   284 

outsider,    161 

over  a  signature,  161 

over  and  above,   161 

overcoat,  161 

overhead,    284 

overly,    1 62 

overrun,   162 

overslaugh,   284 

overture,   162 

own  up,   284 

oyster  plant,  162 

paas,  284 

pack,  284 

paddle,   284 

painter,   284 

pair,   284 

palace  car,  284 

paleface,   284 

palmetto,  284 

pancake,   162 

panfish,   284 

pandowdy,  284 

panel   house,    284 

panhandle,   284 

panier,    162 

pamiing,    284 

pan  out,   284 

pantalette,    284 

pappoose,  285 

paragraphist,  162 

pard,    285 

parquet,   285 

partyism,  285 

pass   (dividend),  285 

passage    (of   a   bill),    285 

passageway,  285 

patentable,   285 

patent   outsides,    285 


INDEX 


patrolman,   285 

patroons,  285 

pawky,  285 

pay  dirt,  285 

P.   D.   Q,   285 

peach,   285 

peach  leather,  285 

peaky,  162 

peanut,  285 

peas,    35 

pecan,    285 

peccary,    285 

peddle,   163 

peeler,  285 

peel    it,    285 

peevy,  285 

peg  away,  285 

pegged   out,    28". 

pelter,   286 

peltry,   1 63 

pemmican,  286 

penny    (cent),  286 

pentway,   286 

peon,   286 

pepperpot,   286 

periauger,   pirogue,    286 

permit,    163 

pernickity,    163 

peroot,  286 

persimmon,   286 

pesky,    286 

Peter  Funk,  286 

peter  out,  286 

pettifog,    163 

phial,    33 

piazza,  286 

picayune,    286 

pick,  163,  286 

pickanninny,   286 

pick-up,  286 

piece    (lunch),   286 

pieplant,    286 

pigeonhole,   163 

pigeonwing,    286 

pike,  286 

piker,   163 

pile,  164,  286 

pill,  disagreeable  person,  286 

pillowslip,   286 

pimping,    164 

pinch,   286 


365 


pindling,   287 

pine   barrens,  287 

pinery,  287 

pinky,   164,   287 

pinxter,   287 

pipe,    287 

pipe  laying,  287 

pistareen,  287 

pit    (of  fruit),   287 

pitch  and  toss,  164 

pitcher,    164 

pitch   in,    164 

pitpan,   287 

placate,   223 

place,   identify,   287 

placer,  287 

plaguey,   287 

plane   tree,    165 

plank  in  politics,  287 

plank  down,  plank  up,  287 

plant    (bury),    287 

plantain,    165 

plantation,    165 

play   actor,    165 

played    out,    287 

play  possum,  287 

pleasant-spoken,  287 

pleasxu-e,    165 

plow,    35 

pluck,   165 

plug,  287,  329 

plug   hat,    287 

pluguglies,   287 

plumb  centre,  287 

plunk,    287 

pliu-ality,  287 

ply,  165 

poach,  165 

pocket,  288 

point  (information),  288 

poke,  166,  288 

poke  bonnet,  166 

poker  (game),  288 

pokerish,  288 

poky,   1 66 

policy    (game),    288 

polt,    166 

pompion,    166 

pond,    166 

pone,   288 

pony   (translation),  288 


366 

pony  up,  288 

pool   (combine),  288 

poorly,  166 

pop,   167,  288 

pop-eyed,    288 

poppycock,   288 

populist,   288 

porgy,  288 

portage,  288 

porterhouse  steak,  288 

posey-yard,   288 

posh,    167 

post   (inform),  288 

postal  currency,  288 

post  card,  288 

pot   hole,    167 

potpie,  289 

potter,    167 

potwalloper,  167 

pound  party,  289 

powder-post,   289 

powerful    (very),  289 

powwow,  289 

prairie,   289 

prawchey,  289 

prayerfully,    167 

precinct,    167 

predicate,    167 

pre-empt,   289 

preferential,  167 

present    (on   envelope),   289 

presidency,    1 68 

presidential,  168 

presidio,   289 

prestidigitate,  168 

presume  likely,  289 

pretty,    168 

pretzel,    168 

prex,   289 

prickly  heat,  289 

primp,    168 

Prince   Albert,    290 

printery,  290 

probate,  290 

processioner,    290 

professor  of  religion,  168 

prohibition,  290 

properly,    169 

proposition,    221 

prospect,  290 

publishment,    169 


INDEX 


pudgicky,   290 

pueblo,   290 

pull    (influence),   290 

pullfoot,  290 

pulling-bone,   290 

pull  through,   169 

pulpiteer,    169 

puny,    169 

pulque,  290 

puma,   290 

puncheon,  290 

pung,    290 

push,    169 

pusley,    329 

pussy,  290 

put  (in  stock  market),  290 

put,  put  off,   put  out,   169 

put  up,  290 

put  up  job,  170 

putting  on  side,  319 

quackgrass,  291 
quadroon,    291 
quahaug,  291 
qualify,  291 

quarter   (of  a  dollar),  291 
quarterage,   291 
quashie,    170 
quid,  291 
quiddling,    291 
quirl,   291 
quirt,  291 
quit,   170 

quite,    in    such    phrases    as    "quite 
a  while,"   170,   291 

race,    291 

rack,  291 

rackabones,   291 

racker,   170 

raft,   291 

rag    (time),    291 

ragged  edge,  329 

rail   (of  a  fence),  171 

railroad,    171 

raise,   171,  291 

rake  down,   rake  off,   291 

rakehelly,   171 

rambunctious,  291 

ranch,  291 

range,  171,  292 


INDEX 


367 


rangy,  292 

rank,   292 

rantankerous,  292 

rapids,   292 

rare  (meat),  171,  335 

rareripe,    292 

rating,  292 

ratoons,   292 

rattler,   rattlesnake,   292 

rattletrap,    171 

rave,  172 

rawhide,  292 

razee,    172 

reach,   1 72 

read  out,    172 

real,    172 

real  healthy,   330 

reata,  292 

reboso,    292 

reckon,   25 

recommend,    172 

record-breaking,    316 

recoup,  recoupment,   172 

red  cent,  red  dog,  292 

redeem,   292 

red  root.  292 

red  tape,   173 

regret,  292 

rehash,  173 

reinsure,   292 

reland,    173 

reliable,   173 

remind,   173 

remonetize,    292 

removability,  292 

rench,   173 

rendition,    173 

renewedly,    1 73 

reopen,    173 

repeater,  293 

repetitious,   174 

reportorial,  293 

reprobacy,    174 

requisition,  174 

researcher,   174 

reserve,   reservation,   293 

residenter,   174 

resolve,  174 

responsible,   293 

restitutionists,    293 

result,  174 


resurrect,  174 

retiracy,    174 

retirement,  293 

retortive,  293 

retrospect,   175 

revamp,  293 

revelator,  293 

revocal,  293 

rich,  175 

ride,   drive,   44,   293 

ride-and-tie,    175 

rider,  175 

riding-rock,  ridingway,  293 

rig,  293 

right,   175 

right  along,  293 

right  away,   317,  293 

right  here,  right  off,  293 

right  smart,  293 

right   straight,   294 

right  up,   176 

ring,  ringer,  294 

ringtailed  roarer,  294 

rip,    176,   294 

ripper,   294 

rip  out,  294 

ripple,   293 

riprap,  294 

ripsnorter,  294 

rising,    rising    ground,    294 

risky,  294 

riveter,   36 

roach,  294 

road  agent,  294 

roarer,   176 

robe,   294 

robin,   294 

rock,  rocks,  294 

rockaway,    294 

rocker,  294 

rogue,   176 

rolling    (land),  295 

room,    295 

roorback,    295 

rooster,   176 

rooter,  295 

rope  in,  295 

roram,    295 

rose   fever,   295 

roster,   176 

rote,  176 


368 


rough,   177,  295 

rough-and-tumble,    295 

roughhouse,  295 

roughness,  295 

roughscuff,  295 

round  one,  to   get,  295 

roundabout,    177 

rounder,  295 

round    up,    177 

rouser,    177 

roustabout,  295 

rowdy,  295 

rubber,    rubbers,    rubberneck, 

295 
rugged,   295 
ruination,    177 
rullicbies,    295 
rumbud,  295 
rumhole,   rummill,   295 
run,    177,   295 
runabout,  296 
nmner,    296 
rimway,  296 
rush,  296 

rush  the  growler,  296 
rust  (of  fish),  296 
rustle,   296 
rye-and-indian,  296 

Sabbaday,  296 
saddy,  296 
safe,  178 
sagebrush,   296 
sakes,  sakes  alive,  296 
salamander,   296 
saleratus,   296 
saloon,  296 
salt-lick,  296 
Sam,  296 
sambo,  296 
Sam  Hill,  296,  330 
samp,   296 
sample-room,   297 
sand   (pluck),  297 
sang,  297 
sappy,  178 
sapsago,  297 
sapsucker,   297 
Saratoga    (trunk),   297 
sarcophagus,  178 
sauce,  178 


INDEX 

sault,   297 
savagerous,    297 
savanna,   297 
save   (kill),  297 
sawbuck,   sawhorse,   297 
sawyer,    297 

say   (prefix  to  sentence),  297 
say-so,    1 78 
scab,  297 
scalawag,   297 
scaling  down,  330 
scalp,   scalper,    297 
177,       scare,  scare  up,  178,  297 
scary,  297 
scat,    297 
scattering,    178 
schedule,   32 
schnapps,   1 79 
schooner   (large  glass),  297 
scientist,    179 
scoop,    297 
scoot,    179 
scorch,    297 
scrabble,    179 
scrap,    179,   297 
scrapple,  298 

scratch,  scratch  gravel,   298 
scratches,   179 
screed,   179,  330 
screws,    1 79 
screwsman,   180 
scribblement,   180 
scringe,    180 
scrub,  298 
scruff,   180 
scrumptious,   298 
scuff,    180,   298 
sculduggery,    180,    301 
sculp,   sculpin,  scup,   298 
scut,  298 
scutum,  298 
seal    (wife),   298 
sealer,   180 
season,    298 
second,  298 
section,    sectional,    298 
seeding,   180 
seen,    181 
seep,    181 
selectman,  298 
sell,  181 


INDEX 


369 


sensationism,    sensationist,    181 

sense    (verb),   298 

serape,  298 

serious,    181 

set,  181 

set   by,   set  store   by,    181 

setback,    182 

setting  pole,  182 

settle,    182 

settlement,   298 

settle  one's  hash,  182 

settler,    182 

seven-up,  298 

shack,  shackly,  298 

shadbelly,   298 

shade    (a  price),   299 

shadow,  183 

shady,  keep,  299 

shagbark,    299 

shake  dice,  183 

shakedown,    299 

shakers,    183 

shakes,   183,  299 

shakiness,   183 

shaky,    183 

shanghai,    299 

shanty,  299 

sharp,  sharp  practice,   183 

sharpey,   299 

shave,  shaver,  184 

shay,  299 

sheath  knife,  184 

shebang,  299 

shecoonery,  299 

sheeny,  184 

sheepshead,   299 

sheepskin,  299 

sheer,    184 

shell,  184,  299 

shenanigan,    299 

sherrivallies,    185 

shifty,   185 

shillagalee,  299 

shilling,  299 

shimmy,    185 

shin,  shin  round,  299 

shindy,    185 

shine,   shiner,    185,   299 

shingle,    185,    299 

shingle-weaver,  299 

shinny,    186 


shinplaster,  299 

shock   (of  grain),   186 

shoddy,   186 

shone,    32 

shoot,   186 

shooter,  shooting  iron,  300 

short,   to  sell,  300 

shortage,  300 

shorts,    186 

should,  for  the  infinitive,  300 

shove,    186,    300 

shoveler,  186 

show,  show  off,   186 

shut  pan,  300 

shy,  shy  of,  300 

shyster,    300 

sick,   44,  72,   187 

side-hill,   187 

sideling,    187 

side   line,   300 

sidestep,   300 

sidewalk,    187 

sidewheeler,  300 

sidewipe,   187 

siding,  300 

sidle,  188 

sierra,   300 

sign,  sign  off,  300 

signalize,   188 

sin    (since),    188 

sinews,   188 

sing  out,  188 

sink,    sink-hole,   300 

sirree,    188 

sistem,    188 

sit  up  with,  188 

size  up,  300 

sizz,    sizzle,    188 

skate,   300 

skeary,    188 

skedaddle,  189 

skeezicks,    300 

skid,  189 

skin,  301 

skipjack,    189 

skipper,    189 

skite,   189 

skive,   189 

skullduggery,    180,   301 

skunk,    301 

skylark,    189 


370 

skyugle,    301 

sky  parlor,  189 

sky  pilot,   189 

slab,   190 

slabsided,  301 

slack  baked,  190 

slang,  190 

slantendicular,    190 

slapjack,   301 

slashes,   301 

slate,   301 

slaver,   301 

slazy,   sleazy,    301 

sleep,  sleeping-car,  301 

sleigh,  sleighing,  301 

sleuth,   301 

slew,    slue,    301 

slide,    190 

slimsy,  301 

sling,   301 

slink,   190 

slip,    190,   301 

slipnoose,   301 

sliver,   32 

slop  over,  191 

slope,   191,  301 

slosh,  191 

slouch    ("no  slouch"),   191 

slough,   191 

slug,    191 

sluice,    191 

slump,  301 

slungshot,    301 

slut,    191 

smack,  192 

smart,   192,   302 

smile,   302 

smitch,   193 

smokestack,    193 

smooth,    193 

smouch,    193 

snake,    193,    302 

snakehead,    302 

snake  in,  snake  out,  302 

snap,   302 

snarl,    193 

sneak  thief,  302 

sneaking,   193 

sneeze,   194 

snide,    194 

snifter,  302 


INDEX 


snip,  snippy,   194 

snoop,   302 

snoozer,    302 

snore,   302 

snorter,   302 

snowbound,  194 

snub  up,  302 

snug,    194,   302 

soak,    soaker,   302 

soapberry,    194 

soap  lock,    302 

socdolager,   302 

social,  sociable,   302 

soda,   302 

soddy.   302 

soft,   194,  303 

soft  sawder,  snap,  thing,  303 

soft  soap,   194 

sog,  194 

soldier,    303 

solid  color,   303 

so   long,    195 

some    (somewhat),    195 

soon   (early),   195 

sopsyvine,    195 

sot,   195 

sots,  303 

sou  marquee,  303 

sour  on  a  thing,  303 

sourkrout,  195 

souse,   195 

southerner,   195 

southron,    196 

sozzle,    196 

span  (of  horses),  196 

span,    clean,    196 

spang,   303 

spanner,    196 

spare  room,   196 

spark,    303 

spat,   196,  303 

speakeasy,  303 

specie,   196 

speck,  197 

specs,    197 

speedway,  303 

spell,   197 

spellbinder,  303 

spellingbee,  303 

spending-money,    197 

spider,    303 


INDEX 


371 


spike  team,  303 

spile,    197 

spit-ball,   spit-curl,   303 

spittoon,    197,   303 

splendiferous,    197 

split,   split  ticket,   303 

splorum,    198 

splvirge,    198 

spoils,   198 

spondoolics,  303 

spook,    198 

spoops,  303 

sport,   303 

sportsman,  198 

sposh,    304 

spotter,  304 

spouty,    198 

spread,    198 

spread  one's  self,   304 

spread-eagle,    198 

spree,   198 

springer,    304 

sprout,  199 

spruce,   spruce   beer,    199 

spruced   up,    199 

sprung,   304 

squaddy,    199 

squail,    199 

square,  199,  304 

square  room,  304 

squash,  200 

squasho,  330 

squatter,   200 

squeaky,   200 

squeal,  200 

squeezer,   304 

squib,    200 

squinny,  200 

squirt,    304 

squush,    304 

stag,  stag  party,  200 

staging,   304 

stake  out,  304 

stale,  200 

stalwart,  304 

stampede,   304 

stamping-ground,    304 

stanchel,   201 

stand   in   hand,    201 

stand  off,  stand  pat,  304 

standee,   304 


star,  201 

stated   supply,    304 

statehouse,    201 

stateroom,  201 

station-house,  201 

stave,  staver,  staving,  304 

stay-at-home,    201 

steep,   304,   329 

stemwinder,   304 

step-ladder,  201 

stick,  201,  304 

stick-in-the-mud,  202 

stiff,  304,  305 

still-hunting,   305 

stingaree,  305 

stinkard,   202 

stinkstone,    202 

stinkweed,  202 

stitch,  202 

stive,   202 

stock,    202,    203 

stock  and  fluke,  202 

stock  watering,  305 

stocking  feet,   202 

stocky,  203 

stogie,   305 

stool,   stool  pigeon,   305 

stomp,    203 

stoop,    203 

store,  203 

storekeeper,  305 

storm,  203 

story,  35 

stovepipe,  203 

stovepipe  hat,  305 

stowaway,   203 

straddle,  straddlebug,  305 

straight,  305 

strain,  203 

stram,   305 

strand,    204 

strapped,   305 

straw,  305 

streak,   streaked,   streaky,   204,   305 

street  yarn,   305 

stretch,    "on   a    stretch,"    204 

strike,    204,    305 

stripe,   305 

stuck  up,  204,  330 

stripper,   305 

strowd,   305 


372 

stub  toe,  305 

stuck  on,   305 

stud,  305 

stump,  204,  305 

stumpage,   305 

stumper,   305 

stump  speaker,  306 

stunner,  205 

stunning,   205 

stunk,  205 

suability,  306 

sub-base,  205 

sub-treasurer,  205 

sucker,   suck  in,  205,  306 

suicide     (verb),    205 

suit,    206 

suit  of  hair,  306 

suitcase,  306 

sulky,   206 

summarize,    206 

summons    (verb),    206 

sump,    306' 

sunbonnet,  206 

Sunday,    306 

sunshade,  206 

sun  up,  306 

supawn,   207 

supplejack,   207 

sure,    207 

surrogate,  207 

surveyor,  207 

susceptible,   207 

suspenders,    207 

suspicion   (verb),  207 

sustain  fatal  wound,  306 

swag,  306 

swamp,   207 

swamping,   306 

swan,  306 

swankey,  306 

swash,    208 

swat,   208 

swear  in,  swear  off,  306 

sweeny,  306 

swingletree,    208 

switch,    208 

switchel,   306 

syren,   208 

systemize,    208 

tab    (to  keep),  307 


INDEX 


tabby  cat,  208 

tabernacle,  208 

table,  208 

tablespread,  307 

tacker,  209 

tacky,  307 

tads,  307 

taffy,  209 

tag,   209 

tailings,  209 

tailor    (fish),    307 

take,  307 

take  back  track,  307 

take  down,  209 

take  in,  330 

take  rag  off,    shine  off,   307 

take   the  stump,   307 

take  up,  take  water,  209,  307 

taking,  209 

talk,   209 

talk  turkey,  307 

talking  iron,  307 

tallow   dip,   307 

tamarack,  307 

tangent,   fly  off  on,  209 

tanglefoot,    307 

tangleleg,   209,   307 

taps,   307 

tarheel,    307 

tarnal,  210 

tarve,  210 

tattler,  307 

Taunton  turkeys,  307 

tavern,  210 

tax,   308 

teafight,   308 

team,  210 

tear,  tear  round,  308 

teeter,  308 

teethache,  308 

teetotally,  210 

telegram,  308 

telephone,   210 

telescope,   308 

tell,  tell  good  bye,  210 

tell  on,   308 

tend,  211 

tender,  308 

tenderfoot,   tenderloin,  308 

tenement  house,  308 

tenpins,  211 


INDEX 


373 


ten-strike,   308 

terawchy,    308 

terrapin,   308 

terret,  211 

texas,   308 

thank-ye-ma'ams,  308 

that    (so),    211 

thereaway,  211 

thirds,    211 

thrash  round,  211 

thirty,   308 

thoroughfare,    308 

thoroughwort,    309 

thrip,   211 

throw  up,   211 

thunderheads,  309 

thwart,  211 

ticker,  309 

ticket,  309 

tickler,   309 

tidy,  211 

tidy  up,  212 

tie,  212 

tie  up,  212 

tiger,  309 

tight,  212,  309 

tile,  212 

tilt,  tilter,  309 

timber,   212 

time   ("a  good  time"),  212 

time  and  again,  309 

time,  to  make,  309 

time,    on,    309 

timothy,  309 

tinker,    213 

tinner,  213 

tip  off,  309 

tipcart,  309 

tipple,  213 

tippybobs,   213 

tiptop,    213 

tithing-man,  213 

to   (for  at  or  in),  14,  20,  213 

to  pronounced  toe,  225 

toadfish,  213 

toadsticker,  309 

toboggan,  309 

toddy,  213 

toe  the  mark,  214 

torn,  309 

torn  dog,  tom  turkey,  214 


tonguey,   225 

tongs,  309 

too  thin,  214 

toot,  214 

Tophet,  214 

top  notch,  309 

topsawyer,  214 

torchlight  procession,  331 

to   rights,    175,    176 

tortle,  214 

tote,  214,  309 

tottlish,  309 

touch,  215 

touch-and-go,  215 

touch-me-not,  215 

touch-off,  309 

tough,  309 

tough  it  out,   310 

tow,  215 

town,  215 

townhouse,  215 

township,  215 

towrow,   215 

trace,   216 

track,  216 

trade,    310 

trail,  216 

trailer,  310 

trainers,    216 

training-day,  216 

trait,  32 

tramp,  trampoos,  216 

transient,    216 

transpire,  223,  310 

transportation,   221 

trap  fishing,   310 

traps,   217 

trash,  217 

traveler,  35 

treat,   217 

tree    (verb),   310 

treenail,   310 

trick   (turn),  310 

trimmings,    217 

troll,  217 

trot   (translation),  310 

trot  out,  217 

truck,   217,  310 

trump,    217 

trust,    310 

try  on,  217 


374  INDEX 

tuck  on,  310 

tuckered  out,   310 

tumble,  tumble  to,  217,  310 

tumblebug,   310 

turfman,   218 

turnip,    218 

turnpike,  310 

turret  ship,  218 

turtler,    218 

tussle,  218 

Tuxedo  coat,  310 

tyke,   218 

type,  typo,  310 


ultraism,  310 

uncle,  310 

vmder  the  weather,   310 

undercoat,  310 

underhew,   310 

underpinners,    311 

underpinning,    218 

unfeeling,  218 

unfellowshipped,   311 

unseated,  311 

up  to,  up  to  snuff,  311 

upper  crust,  upper  ten,   311 

upright,    311 

usable,  311 

used   up,   311 

uxoricide,   311 

valedictory,   valedictorian,   311 

valinch,   219 

vamose,  311 

variate,   311 

various   (noun),  311 

vegetarian,  311 

vendibility,  219 

vendue,  219 

vigilance  committee,  311 

vim,   311 

violative,  311 

visit    (chat),    311 

vum,   311 

waffle,   311 

wagged  out,  311 

wagon,  35 

waist    (bodice),  312 

walk  into,  walk  over,  312 


walking  papers  or  ticket,  312 
wall  paper,  312 
wallow    (noun),   312 
wamblecropped,        womblecropped, 

312 
wash-out,  312 
watergap,   312 
watershed,  312 
waterwitch,  312 
waumus,  312 
wax,  312 
waybill,   312 

way   passenger,   station,   train,   312 
weaken,  219 
wed  for  wedded,  312 
well,  219 

well  come  up  with,  312 
wesand,    312 
wet,   312 
whaling,    313 
whang,  313 
whapperjaw,  313 
wheal,   220 
whelk,   220 
whiffet,   313 
whiffletree,  313 
whip   (defeat),  313 
whippersnapper,  313 
whippoorwill,    313 
whipstock,  313 
whisky  skin,   313 
whitewash      (person     or     action), 

313 
whole-souled,   313 
wide  awake,  220 
wide  open,   313 
wildcat   (investment),  313 
windfall,    313 
winery,    313 

wire,   wire   edge,   wire   pullers,   313 
wisdom    tooth,    220 
wishbone,    313 
wolfish,  220 
wolverine,    313,    331 
woodchuck,    313 
woodrick,    313 
work-a-day  clothing,  313 
worm  fence,  313 
worriment,  314 
worrisome,   220 
woodsman,  220 


INDEX  on  I' 

wrapper,  314  yearling,   314 

wrathy    314  yegg,   yeggman,   314 

wunst,  221  yellow,  314 

„       ,        ,,,  yellow  jack,   221 

^     u    Sf'  ^^^  ^°^k    shilling,    314 

yankee    315  ^"""^  P^^^°"'  '' 

yankee  notions,  314  zee   314 

yard  (garden),  314  zit,' 314 


Ma 


University  of  California.  Los  Angeles 

nil!  Ml 


L  006  478  992  8 


rililflH°liS,[l^,^J^,'^,^LL.'?R^RY  FACILITY 

AA    'oW354m    9 


